And if we could change the Story
by Nuwanda65
Summary: Throughout the Supernatural Seasons and Episodes, encounter a new fiction character... Sort of re-write of the Story.
1. Presentation and Introduction

**And if we re-wrote the history**

**Hello Everyone, **

**I'm new around here. This is the first time I really post something like this. I made several attempts in French a few years ago, but never post anything for real in the open (only my friends red some of it). *shy shy me* LOL!**

**As I red in the regulation, it seems I need Beta-Readers. So, Beta's, wherever you are, you are welcome. ;-)**

**I write this only for fun. To have another view on this TV show that I like and for you to imagine yourself in that new character I've created. Let your imagination flood and enjoy the ride!**

**Her name is Eli (Short for Elisabeth) and she's also a Demon hunter… You will have bits and pieces of her background story in the course of the different chapters. So, to integrate her in the story, I had to twist some of the real episodes to fit her in. **

**I found it interesting somewhere to have a man & a woman on each side. Since Sam has Ruby, on the 'black' side (demon side), I found it natural to have Dean have his own woman helper, to have a 'white' side on it (angel side).**

**I start my story from Season 1 – Episode 11 (Scarecrow). We'll see how far we can bring it. And I will continue to follow the episodes and the seasons as they were aired (some episodes may be skipped if it really do not fit my purpose).**

**Last thing, English is not my mother tongue, so bare with me if you see some uncommon sentences or mistakes (So please let me know, I will not be mad or so, the contrary, with your help I do this also to improve my English).**

**Critics, comments and little messages are very welcome. Just let me know what you really thing about it and if you don't find I'm any good at this, I'll understand and will stop. I sollely swear! LOL! ;-)**

**Well, that's it for now, I guess... Hope we'll past a joyfull moment together.**

**Take care, everyone… And talk to you soon.**

Seaon 1 - Episode 11 (Scarecrow)

Introduction

The man, in his long black coat, is leaning against the car. "Eli… You have to understand. It's better this way. This is going to get ugly."

"John, please… Don't send me away now. You told me how to fight. You'll need me, I'm sure…" The young woman pleads, her long light red hair surrounding her lightly tanned graceful face.

"No… I would not be able to cope with you getting harmed… You'll be safer with them. Come on, it's not like I'm sending you to strangers… They are my boys!... It's family!" He says brushing away a lock that was hiding one of her dark brown eye sparkled with gold.

"I'm sure they don't want me with them. They don't know me. How will they believe me?"

"They will… I told you what to do."

"Why?..."

"Eli, please now… There is still a lot of work to do… You have to go, now. It's more dangerous every minute you stay with me… We will see us again, I promise… And it will ease my mind knowing you're safe with them." He hands her a set of keys, showing her the vehicle he was sitting on, a classic brown Chevy. "This is the car I found for you. She's clean, filled up with gas and in good shape. Don't sell it, tho. That would leave a trail to us. Just get rid of it once you're with Sam and Dean. OK?" She accepts the keys. Two tears falling down her cheeks. He hugs her. "Come on, my sweet little angel… I knew you a lot more braver than that in other circumstances!... And you'll see… Dean is fun to be around. He's a goofball sometimes and he can also be an ass… But I'm sure you'll deal with him easy… You have a quick wit… And he likes a good match, when he finds a good partner for it… And Sammy, you'll like him too. He's a super geek, just like you…" He smiles at her, pushing her softly away. "Go now… You know how to leave me messages… Anything happens; you also know where to go to…"

"Yeah, I know all that… But, it's with you I wanna stay!" She says in a last attempt. He sighs heavily.

"We will all be together sooner than you think." He's kissing her forehead. "Take care. God bless you, sweetheart! And I'm counting on you to take care of my boys too, get it?"

"Sir, yes, Sir…" She finally smiles.

She enters the car, John waving already a few yards away. The car softly moves from her parking spot, the time she looks left to see if any other vehicle was coming towards her, he had already disappear in a counter alley.

To avoid to shed more tears, she switches on the radio and looks for a Classic Rock station. The music suddenly blasts from the open window and she starts to sing.

To avoid the crying part, she switches on the radio and looks for a Classic Rock station. The music suddenly blasted from the open window and she starts to sing.

Page **2** of **2**


	2. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

It's still dark outside. The two brothers are fast asleep in that motel room they found outside of town late last night. Dean's cell phone starts to ring. Sam is the first to notice, rising slowly from the blur.

"Dean!… Ahum… Dean, phone!" Turning his head to face the other bed.

"You are a hell of a hunter! So much for the 'always on alert duty' part!" He grabs the phone.

"Hello?... Hello?..." No answer. "Dad, is that you?"

"Hello, Son… How are you?" John says in a soft voice.

"Dad… Where are you?..."

"Sorry, Kiddo… I can't tell you that."

"What? Why not?"

"You'll have to trust me on this one."

"We are looking for you everywhere… Are you alright?"

"Yes, I'm fine. Don't worry… Sam, listen to me…"

"Dad, please tell us where you are so we can meet…"

At that moment, Dean wakes up, a worried look on his face.

"Is it Dad on the phone?" Sam ignores him, his attention focused on the conversation.

"You are after it, aren't you? The thing that killed mom."

"Yeah, it's a Demon, Sam…" John finally gives in a bit.

"A Demon, you're sure?"

"A Demon? What Demon?" Dean asks…

"Dad, let us help you… Please…"

"You can't be any part of it, Son…"

"Why not?" Sam pleads…

"Sam, now stop!… Listen to me" John raises his voice, losing his impatience a bit. "You have to stop searching for me… I have to do this on my own."

"Dad? No…"

"Pass me the damned phone!" Dean reaching his hand to his brother.

"Dad, we can help! We have to!"

"No way! It's too dangerous!... Sam, I want you to write some names and a city."

"But…"

"Go to _Burkittsville_ …" Dean grabs the phone out of Sam's hand.

"Dad! What is going on?" His look got fixed, his body suddenly tenses. "Yes, Sir… OK… Yeah, I have a pen…" He starts to write down the info John dictates him. "Why do you send us there? Will you be… Yes, Sir…"

"I can't stay any longer on the phone. It's already a risk I take, talking to you. Just do as I said. And don't look for me anymore. You got that, Son?" John sighs heavily…

"Yes, Sir… I got that." But, the line tunes the hang up signal already.

"What the fuck?" Yelled Sam. "Why is he doing this? We are looking for him for month, worried sick and that's all we got? Some coordinates by text message and now this phone call?"

"He must have his reasons." Tries Dean to calm down his sibling.

"His reasons? Orders, yeah! Always giving orders! And you just follow them… No questions asked!"

"Sam… We do as we have been told and then we will advise what our next move will be, OK?"

"No!"

"Sam… It's final!… We go to Indiana see what is happening down there. Dad gave me names of 3 couples that have vanished in that state." He passes his shirt over his head and left the still warm bed, looking for the laptop.

Sam throws his duffle in the truck of the car, slamming it angrily. He takes out the keys and sits behind the wheel.

"What I found so far: 3 couples in 3 years. All of them on a road trip through the country. Same period: Third week of April. Vanished after passing a town called _Burkittsville. Too much of a coincidence if you ask me." Resumes Dean already sitting on the passenger seats some papers and a map in his hands._

_"And?" asks Sam._

_"We are third week of April." He winks._

_"But, we are not a couple…"_

_"Nope, that's for sure, but a real one might be in danger…" _

"So… Dad is sending us to Indiana to go hunting for something before another couple vanishes?" Sam says sarcastically.

"Yahtzee!" Dean yells, no noticing his brother tone of voice.

_Sam finally stars the engine and Dean immediately turns the music louder. "It's a good day for saving people, don't you think?" The older smirks._

_"I've traced Dad's call in a phone booth near Sacramento… He is in California."_

_"After we finish the job in Indiana, we'll go to California, OK?"_

_"Whatever…"_

_"Want me to stop for a latte, Francis! To stop the winning…" Sam just shrugs and focuses on the road._

_After 4 hours non-stop driving in complete silence, Dean couldn't hold it anymore._

_"Are you going to give me the silent treatment during the whole job?"_

_"Dean… I don't get you. Always doing as Dad's says… Are you tired to play the good son?"_

_"That's how it works, Sammy… He…"_

_"I don't understand the blind faith you have in the man."_

_"Well that's because he proved me a zillions times that he was right! I'm sure that he will contact us back when he will really need us."_

_"And if for just this once, he was wrong? Why does he want to do this on his own? Vengeance his ours too, don't you think?"_

_"Sam… You are just like him: Stubborn. And deep down, you know why Dad is moving us aside on this case."_

_"Oh yeah, wisenoze! You know that?"_

_"Yes… We are Dad's biggest weak spot. With us around, he could make a false move, an error… This is what you want?"_

_"He needs our help! He cannot do this all alone! Please, Dean… Let's go to California!"_

_"I'm sorry, but it's still a 'no'". Sam briskly moves the car aside of the road, the tires screeches when he hits the brakes. "What are you doing?"_

_"We are not going to Indiana. We're going to California."_

_"Sam that's enough!… Dad has given us an order!"_

_"I don't care…"_

_"You don't care… Doing the job… Saving lives of innocent people?... You don't care…" Dean raising his voice…_

_"All right, I understand. Believe me, I do. But, I'm talking one week here, man. To get answers."_

_"Dad said it wasn't safe… He obviously knows something we don't. So, if he says to stay away, we stay away."_

_"No!... Not this time…" Sam jumps out of the vehicle, takes his stuff from the trunk and starts walking down the lonely road. _

_"You are a selfish bastard, you know that? You just do whatever you want, don't care what anybody else's thinks!"_

_Sam turns around. "That's what you really think?... Huh?... Really?… Well, look… This selfish bastard is going to California!"_

_"Come on, Bro… You can't be serious…"_

_"Oh yes! Watch me…" Sam starts to walk away again._

_"I cannot leave you like this in the middle of nowhere. Come back in the car."_

_"Bye, Dean! Catch you later!" He says over his shoulder._

_"I'm warning you, I'm going. I start the car and vanished." Sam doesn't stop. Dean goes back in the car, makes the engine roar a couple of times and looks in his rear-view mirror. Seeing his brother still going in the opposite direction, he engages the drive and leaves._

Page **2** of **2**


	3. Chapter 2

_Chapter 2_

_It was just past 4 PM when Dean reaches Burkittsville. It's raining. He parks before a crossroad, in the little downtown. He looks left and right and sees a man sitting in front of the porch of a restaurant called 'Scottie's Café'._

_"Hi there… Howza going?"_

_"Fine" says the man emotionless._

_"My name is Jon Bonham and…"_

_"Like the drummer of Led Zeppelin?"_

_"Cool… A music fan!" Dean puts his hand in the front pocket of his leather jacket and pulls out folded papers. "I was wondering if you had seen those 2 persons around. They are my friends and are missing since last year."_

_The guy looks vaguely to the pictures showed. "Nope, sorry… Never seen those faces around here?"_

_"Hum… Curious, because they gave me a phone call, telling me they were in this town and I did not heard about them since." He lies…_

_"There is another town 5 miles away, try there."_

_"Did people already tell you how a bright smile you have?" Dean says half smiling._

_"Goodbye, Sir" Just replies the man._

_He enters the Jorgenson General store next to the identical name Motors & Brake Shop to ask the same question. The old couple in the store, most probably Mr & Mrs Jorgenson, gave him a similar answer: "Sorry, never seen those 2 persons before."_

_Their daughter, coming down the stairs with boxes in her hands, puts them on the counter before looking also at the pictures._

_"Oh, I remember him. The tattoo on his arm caught my eye." She says pointing at the man's picture. "Don't you remember, Dad? They were just married." She turns to face him. He gives a second look to the paper._

_"Yes, you're right Emily. I remember now. It has been awhile now, a year I think. My memory is not that good anymore." He answers smiling gently. "They had some car problems. So, they went to Scottie's to have diner and then they left town."_

_"Could you remember the direction they took?" Dean asks a little bit suspicious._

_"I pointed them how to join the Interstate and that's it."_

_"Hum… Well, OK… Thank you very much for your help." The family keep staring at him till he turned the street corner._

_Sam was starting to get tired of walking when, 100 yards away from him; he sees the back of a person sitting on her luggage. As he approaches, he notices that she has earphones; he carefully taps on her shoulder, making a step backwards to avoid scaring her too much._

_"Hi… Are you alright?" He says with his best gentle smile._

_"Yes. I'm OK." She replies standing up. "You're lost?"_

_"No, just wondering how far away I am from the next town."_

_"I have no idea. I'm waiting the next car to pass."_

_"You're hitchhiking in the middle of nowhere? Aren't you afraid to fall on the wrong guy?"_

_"I'm used to it. I can see directly when I see an honest man."_

_"I'm Sam, by the way."_

_"Meg." At that moment, an old white van approaches. She waves, already grapping her stuff, like she was sure it would stop. "It was nice to meet you, Sam." She says in a huge smile._

_The van stopped, an ugly guy appeared at the open window. "You need a ride?"_

_"Yeah!" Both Sam and Meg say._

_"Just her! I'm not taking you!" He practically barked._

_"You trust shady van guy and not me?"_

_"Definitely!" She climbs in without hesitation._

_The smell of warm apple pie makes Dean's stomach growl. He enters the cafe, looks around for a few second and sits down in front of a table not far away from the only other customer, a woman. She was quietly eating, her long shiny light red hair falling around her face; her eyes wondering around the room. She spotted Dean and shyly smiled at him._

_"Hi… Seems delicious." He says softly._

_"It is… You should take the same… Mashed potatoes and Sirloin steak. To die for!" She mumbles swallowing the last bite she has putted in her mouth._

_"Thanks for the tip. Just passing through?"_

_"Yep… I had to stop for gas and the mechanic discovered that I had an oil leak on my brakes. He is fixing it right now."_

_"You're never too careful with that kinda thing." Scottie was standing in front of Dean waiting for his order. "Just coffee, please… Black… Oh! And some of that pie too, I smelled from the street!"_

_"You also stopped for gas?" She asks him with the nicest smile he had seen in weeks._

_"No… I'm looking for some people."_

_"I'm sure this lady wants to eat in peace…" The waiter mumbles back on his table with the coffee and a plate._

_"Hey… Just a little friendly conversation!"_

_"I don't mind… Really." She says to the man. "I'm Elisabeth… Nice to meet you?…" She was waiting for his answer._

_"Dean… And nice to meet you too, Elisabeth."_

_"Oh, please call me Eli… I don't like mu full name, sounds too haughty, don't you think?"_

_"Not with those pair of… Eyes! If you ask me…" She bursts into laughter._

_Scottie was waiting at the entrance door for the sheriff to enter the place. They both starts to whisper in each other's hear, looking in Dean's direction._

_"Oh crap!… And I thought this was a fine nice day so far." He says, seeing the sheriff coming to his table._

_"Afternoon, Mam… " The policeman salutes Eli and turns to Dean "Sir… May I please ask you to gently following me?"_

_"Excuse-me, officer… What is the problem?" She asks._

_"None of your matter, Mam." He says briskly._

_"It's OK, Eli… A small advise, don't stay here too long." Dean murmurs in her hear before following the sheriff._

_"I am going to escort you out of my town, Kiddo… And it's a no return request. You got me?"_

_"Yep… Perfectly clear." Says Dean in front of this beloved car._

_Sam finally arrives at a bus station._

_"The next bus for Sacramento, please?" He asks the attendant._

_She types some codes in the computer in front of her before answering the question "Tomorrow, 5:05 PM"_

_"Nothing earlier?"_

_"For Sacramento, no… Hum… L.A. tomorrow 4:45 PM"_

_"OK then… One ticket for Sacramento." He pays the ticket and turns around to face the waiting room. In a corner, he recognizes the hitchhiker woman he met a few hours back._

_"Meg?"_

_"Dean!… You finally made it, huh?... Good for you. And as you can see, I made it into one piece, just a little earlier that you… Nice guy by the way." She says with a wink._

_"My bus is not before tomorrow 5PM…"_

_"Mine too… Sacramento then…"_

_"You too?"_

_"Yep…"_

_"You have friends there?" He asks, sitting next to her._

_"No, just going here and there. Maybe California will open her arms wide for me."_

_"You are running away from something?" As he automatically suspected something weird happened in her life._

_"Not really the perfect girl my parents wanted me to be. So, I decided to take my life back and do as I want."_

_"Oh, family issues… How related I can feel."_

_"What are you running from, then?"_

_"My brother… Not really running from him… We had that fight… He always has to boss me around… I've had it this time, so I left… Hope to find my father. He is supposed to be in California…" He suddenly stops talking realizing he was sharing some very private information with someone he just met._

_"You made the right decision, Sam… You have to live your life, do the things you really want to do. You're not a child anymore." She adds, putting her hand on his forearm._

_"Yeah… Sure… You hungry?"_

_"Starving…" They both went up, entering the next door snack bar._


	4. Chapter 3

_**Two chapters for you this evening. If you have any comments or questions, please let me know. Cheers.**_

_Chapter 3_

_Dusk was slowly falling on Burkittsville. Eli enters her motel room and drops off her heavy bag onto one of the beds. She unzips it and pulls out her laptop. She sits in front of the little round table and starts to type on the keyboard 'Burkittsville history'. A few links appears on the screen. The two first ones were giving some info about the town, number of habitants, sightseeing in the surroundings, agricultural region best known for their apple-trees, nothing really interesting. The third link was the city-hall website and the last one was the one from the historical society of Indiana. She clicks on that one and starts to look for more specifics on the region. The only interesting thing she could gather was the origin of habitants, there were mostly from Scandinavian descent._

_She returns to the search front page and types 'Scandinavian gods & demons'. A huge amount of websites fills her screen. With practically no facts on what is really going on in this town, she could not figure out where to look for exactly or what to look after. She claps down her laptop and decides to have a walk around._

_"Not much people in the streets. And yet, it's still early. What are people doing after a hard day work around here?" She wonders, strolling in the city-centre, looking for anything that could be called a bar._

_She finally spots an under-lit sign, oddly called: "Det Första Trädet". Only the painting of a man leaning against a huge tree with a pint of bear in his hand has given her a hit that might be what she was looking for._

_The door creaks as she opens it and the few customers leaning on the counter staring at her. She quickly looks around and spots a known face: Dean. She walks to his table as they were expecting to meet._

_"Hi, Dean… I thought you had left town." She softly says, removing her jacket._

_"Eli… Hi… Yeah, but I hate to have unfinished business and for once I did nothing wrong." With his hand, he invites her to sit in front of him._

_"For once? Are you more used to trouble?"_

_"Depends… I'm often misunderstood!" He smiles._

_She notices the personal journal in front of him. Dean closes it when he sees her eyes on it._

_"You want to drink something?"_

_"Yes… Thanks… A beer is much needed." _

_"Are you in trouble?" He waves at the bartender, shows him his empty bottle and points a 2 with his fingers._

_"Well, my car… I tough I still could leave today, but the mechanic told me that he needed a piece part to fix it. It's on order and will be here by tomorrow."_

_"I know some stuff or two about cars. You want me to have a look?"_

_"No, it's OK. Shit happens. But it is very sweet of you to ask." She takes a long sip on her bottle. "And some sightseeing could not kill me, right?" She smiles._

_"Depends…" He says absently._

_"On what?"_

_"What?"_

_"You said 'depends'… Depends on what?"_

_"Don't mind me… I used to say stupid things… It's part of my charms!" He smirks._

_She pauses for a moment. "Dean, there is something I have to confess…" She waits till she has his full attention. "It's not a coincidence if I'm here… I was send here by someone… To help you in your hunt."_

_"Xcuse-me?" He asks astounded._

_"Found anything interesting yet?"_

_"I don't understand what you're talking about!"_

_"I know about the couple's disappearance the last 3 years and they seemed to all have stopped here."_

_"Who are you? A cop?" He says suddenly nervous, sliding a hand in his jacket, looking for his gun._

_She starts to laugh. "Hell, no! God forbid! Your father… sent me."_

_"Why would he do a thing like that?"_

_"He knows how worried you are, about him. He wants you to know he is alright."_

_Dean is slowly moving his gun under the table, pointing at her belly. "How do you know him?"_

_"I'm… working with him for some time now."_

_"You're… hunting with him?"_

_"Yes, Dean… Could you please stop aiming that thing at me?" Dean looks surprised._

_"How do you?..." He sighs and reluctantly puts it back in his jacket._

_"I told you, I'm a hunter too… So, can we please now share our info on this case?"_

_"I don't get it. He does not want our help. His own sons. He's asking us to stop looking after him. A few months back, he suddenly disappears from our radar, leaving us alone to continue the job… And you are telling me that he took you under his wing?" He says harshly._

_"Dean, please… Don't get mad… It's a long story."_

_"Well hey, Lady!… We have the whole night, so start talking!… How do you expect me to believe any of this? I don't know you… You are coming out of the blue… We even ever heard a word about you… Sorry if I'm a little bit suspicious here!"_

_"Take his journal… One year back… You'll see my name in there." He opens it and starts to look for her._

_"How do you know you're in his journal?"_

_"He was expecting you wouldn't believe me… So, he told me. And I could use it to convince you that I'm not a demon or something."_

_"Sorry, I still don't buy it!" She searches under her shirt for her necklace and shows Dean the medallion that was hanging on it. It was the same pentagram surrounded by a burning sun he and his brother have tattooed on their upper chests._

_"He gave me this for protection. I was too young to have it printed on my skin. Maybe one day, I'll do it."_

_"Yeah, by the way… How old are you?"_

_"Were you never told that this isn't very gentleman to ask a woman about that?" She smiles. "But, let's say: Old enough to do this and strong enough to kick your butt if necessary!"_

_"Nice…" He grins. "Really the last thing I need at the moment… Babysit a Baby hunter!"_

_"I'm not a… Whatever!... So, I found out that the whole community here are quite wealthy compared to the other villages around. With the last economical crises, a lot of farmers have lost their homes, their lands… But here, none of that. Their crops are healthy, more that health I may add. No fruit diseases, no trees dying, no cattle loss. Even the people aren't suffering from any common bugs or viruses. Enough for me to think something not 'human' is protecting them."_

_"Did you found a link with the missing couple every year, the same week of April?" Dean says, suddenly concentrated on the job._

_"I don't really know yet… I found on the net that Burkittsville's residents are all from Scandinavian descent. And my sixths sense is telling me that it's something important."_

_"Your sixths sense? Oh, please…" He rolls his eyes on the ceiling._

_"I made a search on Scandinavian gods and legends, but there are hundreds of them and I don't have any clue on what we are looking for or anything to narrow the search." She adds, not reacting on his last remark._

_"Maybe, I have something on that…"_

_"Finally!" Putting her arms up in an 'Alleluia'. _

_Dean shrugs and continues… "All the couples left town on the same road and all of them had received the same instructions by the locals how to return to the Interstate. Interstate they never reach."_

_"But maybe only one road that leads to it?"_

_"Nope! There are 3 ways out of town possible, actually… I already checked. So, MY sixth sense is telling me that there must be something down THAT road!" He finishes jokingly._


	5. Chapter 4

_Chapter 4_

_Both in Dean's car, they are driving out the city to check out the suspected road. The night had fallen now._

_"I'd like to ask you something? How did you meet my Dad?" Dean lowers the volume of the radio._

_"I told you, it's a long story…" She starts slowly, her eyes down on her lap._

_Dean feels that she's reluctant to share. He tries another approach. "How did you become a hunter?"_

_"Something happened when I was still a baby… And only discover way later the truth about monsters and demons among us…" He looks at her, waiting for her to continue, but she remains silent again. He was about to ask another question when… "Where is Sam, by the way?"_

_"Long story too…" He smirks._

_"He's after John, right?"_

_"Yep… Couldn't hold him…"_

_"Look! What is that?" She suddenly burst, pointing at a sort of entrance on the right side of the road._

_He parks the car on the sideway and both go out. They looked up at a rusted arch between 2 skinny trees. _

_"A path is leading deep to a small old house. There is some light coming through the window._

_"You think someone is living here?" She whispers._

_"Dunno… Shall we have a look?" Without waiting her answer, Dean's already going through the arch._

_"Would it be not safer to get loaded?"_

_"What? You want us to get stoned on the job?"_

_"I meant, take some weapons from your truck, you idjit!" _

_Dean turns back to face Eli. "We're not yet intimate enough for you to call me idijt, Sugar!" Then, continues to his car, opening the secret arms cache. He takes his custom made rock salt shotgun, a second one for her, puts ammo in his pocket, some more in his hand and a flask of holy water._

_"Try not to get hurt… These go off so quickly sometimes!" He hands over the gun and the ammo to Eli and without waiting for an answer, returns to the path. She follows him a few steps behind, looking all around, arm firmly locked in her hands. Apple trees are now surrounding them._

_"Must be one of their orchards." Dean says, also being on the alert. They are approaching what seems to look like a scarecrow. "Euhw, man! You're fugly!" He turns on his flashlight to detail it. "I'll be damned… Look at his forearm…" _

_She comes closer to him. "What?"_

_"The tattoo…" Putting his shotgun under his elbow and the flashlight in his mouth, he pulls out the paper from the last missing guy. "See… Looks like the same one to me, don't you think?" Showing the picture to Eli._

_"What the hell?" Suddenly, the wind starts blowing heavier and they hear some ruffling behind them. Dean turns around pointing his light where the noise was coming from. "Dean… I don't like this… We better..."_

_"What? You're scared?" He laughs._

_"No, I'm not… But… I feel something's is coming… We better go back to the car… Now!" Without waiting she starts to run back the path. The ruffling starts again in another corner for the orchard. Walking backwards, Dean is pointing his gun left and right. He peeps a last time at the cross, the scarecrow was gone! "Holy Moly!" He starts to run too._

_Eli was already at the car, her back against the door, her gun aiming the dark. Dean rushes to the driver side, opens the door on the fly and jumped behind the wheel. As she was sitting on the passenger seat, he starts the engine and literally flew over the side road to the asphalt._

_"What the fuck was that? Self moving Scarecrow in the last male victim meat suite?"_

_"I don't know. Never seen anything like it before!" She replies, taking back her breath._

_ "Think now you got some clues to narrow your search, right?"_

_"Maybe… Let's go back to my motel… I'll tell you that in a minute with my laptop."_

_"Guess I should first book a room for me." Dean says as she opens her door._

_"There is a twin bed in mine. I don't mind you're crashing here. And that said, I don't think I would be able to sleep anyways after this." _

_"Good with you… Good with me too…" He goes back to the car to take his duffle. When he finally enters, she was already in front of her computer typing frantically. "Which bed you prefer?" He asks._

_"Left. Closer to the door."_

_"Huh huh… Well…" He says a little annoyed._

_"OK… Right one, then… Why do you mind asking if you already know which one you want?" She states._

_"Just being polite, here…" Putting his bag on the left bed. "Jesus, what's with the attitude?" He mumbles._

_"I heard that…" Her eyes still glued on the screen._

_"Any luck finding something close to what we've met down there" He changes the subject._

_"Not really… But, I found on the local community College website that they have a course on Scandinavian mythology given by a certain professor Harley… We can maybe go tomorrow morning ask him some questions." Finally looking at him._

_"Yep… But for now, I'm gonna take a shower, if you don't mind." He had already pickup clean clothes from his luggage._

_"Fine… I'll continue my reading…" _

_She hears the water flow and a deep voice starting to softly sing. She shakes her head, smiling._

_A few minutes later, Dean comes out of the bathroom, dressed in fresh clothes. "Since it seems it's gonna be a short night sleep… You want me to go for some beer or soft drinks or coffee?"_

_"Beer, yes please…" He takes his car keys from his jacket and opens the room door… "And some junk food… I love junk food!… Helps me focus!" She adds before he left the place._

_"Sir, yes, Sir!" He salutes. "What does she thinks I am, the maidservant or something?…" He moans, entering in his car._

_As soon as she hears the car going away, she takes her cell phone out of her jeans pocket._

_"It's Eli… I'm with Dean in Burkittsville. Sam is not with us. You were right about that. There is something in this town, for sure, but we are still figuring out what exactly… And you were right again; Dean is a lot of fun!" She lets out a small laugh. "I'll call you back as soon as I know more. Bye." She shuts her phone and get up to her bag. Takes her night clothes out and goes for the bathroom._

_When Dean comes back with a paper bag full of supplies in his arms, she was still in it. He hears her softly singing and starts smiling when he recognizes the tune. "That girl knows Led Zep? Waouw!… Now, I'm impressed." He says for himself. He pops open a bottle of bear and jumps on the bed._

_She comes out, dressed in some wide grey jogging pans and a sleeveless AC/DC black t-shirt, rubbing her wet hair with a towel._

_"I'm amazed… In the middle of nowhere as we are, you could find an open store at this late hour?" She says._

_"There wasn't. I drove outside of town. On my way over here, I saw an Exxon gas station with a 24/7 store." All proud of himself._

_She was rummaging through the bag. She took a bottle of beer, puts the rest in the little fridge next to the television and opens a bag of Taco Chips._

_"No dips?" She asks with a disappointed tone. He wanted to find THE line to retort her, but she was already adding. "Just kidding!" With a huge smile on her face._

_"Hahaha… Very funny!"_

_"You should have seen your mug… To die for!" She laughs, sitting back in front of her computer and putting some chips in a mouth._

_"So, it seems we don't have anything else to do for the night… How about to know each other a little bit better?" He says in a husky voice, leaning on his left elbow, taping slightly his hand on the matrass…_

_"Excuse-me?" She freezes. _

_"Gocha!… And I will even add that for a second, you believed it?... I'm irresistible!" He burst into laughter too._

_"In your dreams, pal!... That was not even funny!" _

_"Come on… It was a little funny!… At least, it's a tie!" He cheers_


	6. Chapter 5

_Chapter 5_

_In the morning, while Eli is checking on her car at the gas station, Dean hastens to call Sam._

_"You will never believe this, man!" The older starting the conversation._

_"What? What happened? You finish the job already?"_

_"Nope… Far from… But, Dad sent us someone."_

_"Xcuse-me? Who?"_

_"A woman…"_

_"We know her?"_

_"Nope, never heard about her… Her name is Elisabeth, but she likes to be called Eli." He finishes in a high pitch voice, mimicking her. "She claims to be a hunter too and have worked with Dad for about a year."_

_"Dad having a female partner? You're kidding, right?"_

_"Nope… No jokes… I would have preferred, tho!"_

_"Did she explain where they met? Since when they're working together? How come he never told us about her?"_

_"I have no clue, man… She is not very talkative about all that. That's what's bores me a bit about her!... You know, I'm still a bit suspicious. Even if her facts check for now… Why would Dad send someone?"_

_"Maybe the same reason, he doesn't want us with him."_

_"Could be… But, why sending her to us?… There are other hunters around…"_

_"Dunno… There must be something important under there… And you know Dad does not trust much people in the business… How did she convince you she knows about Dad?"_

_"That's the weirdest part… He's talking about her in his journal… Never noticed that… Just a sentence, tho… And she wears the same amulet we have tattooed."_

_"Hum… Interesting… So, about the job… What you got already?"_

_Dean explains what they found out and last night's meeting with the scary scarecrow. "Come to Burkittsville, Indiana… Fun town!" He ends._

_"Something must be animating the scarecrow… A spirit?" Sam thinking out loud._

_"No, it's more that a spirit… It's a God… A pagan Goad, anyways…"_

_"What makes you say that?"_

_"The annual cycle of its killing and the fact that the victims are always a man and a woman… Like some kind of sacrificial rite… We have an appointment with a professor at the local College. Hopefully, we will be able to give us a name to put on the sucker!"_

_"You are starting to do very well on searching Intel, bro." Sam laughs…_

_"To be totally honest, it ain't me… That was Eli's part!" Dean admits _reluctantly_._

_"Well, she seems to be thorough… Good point for her…"_

_"I'm glad you think that… I'll let you handle her, no problem…"_

_"Why are you saying that? She's ugly or something?"_

_"Surprise… Surprise…"_

_"Does she knows were Dad is?"_

_"She pretends not, but I'm sure she's hiding something. I'll grill her a little when the job is finished."_

_"Dean… You know that if you need my help… Just ask… OK?" Sam comes shyly._

_"I know… Actually… I want you to know… I mean… Don't think…" Dean says faltering…_

_"Yeah… I'm sorry too, bro…"_

_"The way you stand up to Dad… Hell, I wish I… Well, I admire that about you… And I'm proud of you, Sammy!"_

_"Man, stop!… I don't know what to say… But thanks…"_

_At that moment, Dean hears the keychain ticking against the door. Eli was back. "I'll call you later... Gotta go…" He claps his cell phone just when she enters. "So, your car?"_

_"Still not fixed of course… I suppose they don't want me to leave this place!... And honestly, all their nice attitudes and attentions start to give me the creeps!... But, I don't give a damn… The car is clean, they can keep it if they like… We finish the job and 'Adios' crap hole!"_

_"Do you already have future plans?... Where to go next?... Something?" Dean asks unwittingly._

_"We better go see that professor… I'd like to know with what we are dealing here… You're ready?" Eli says, ignoring his questions._

_"Ooo-Kayyy!… Do as I was just not talking to you…" He says for himself and raising his head at her. "Shall we go?" He grabs his jacket and opens the door for her._

_"It's not every day I get a research questions on pagan Idolatry." Professor Harley exclaims, welcoming the couple at the top of the marble stairs. "You said you were interested in local lore? I'm afraid Indiana isn't really known for its pagan worship." He continues, shaking their hands and leading them through the hallway._

_"What if it was imported?… Wasn't this area settle by immigrants?" Dean asks._

_"Yes, it is… But there are hundreds of Norse gods and goddesses."_

_"We are looking for one related to Nature, agriculture, protection of crops…" Eli steps in the conversation._

_"Hum… A woods God more…" The professor says, entering in his office. He stops in front of one of the bookcases and pulls out a big brown leather book and delicately lies it down on a table. He starts to flip the pages._

_After a few, Dean reacts at a picture. "Wait… Wait… Wait… What's that one?"_

_"That's not a woods God, per se…"_

_"The Vanirs?…" Dean starts to read, looking at the professor to be sure he pronounces it right… "Were Norse Gods of protection and prosperity… Keeping the local settlements safe from harm. The villages build effigies of the Vanir in their fields… Other villages practiced human sacrifices, one male, one female…" He glances quickly at Eli. "Kinda looks like a scarecrow, don't you think, Honey?"_

_"This particular Vanir springs its energy from a sacred tree." She continues to read. "How so?" She's turning her face to the professor._

_"Well, pagans believed all sorts of things were infused with magic." He smiles mildly._

_"What would happen if the sacred tree was torched? You think it would kill the God?" Dean asks._

_Harley starts to laugh. "These are just legends, Youngman…"_

_"Yes… Of course, Professor… You're right…" He takes Eli's arm. "Well… Thank you very much for your time."_

_"Glad I could help." He escorts them at the door._

_Dean opens it and two armed men are standing in front of them. The closest one knocks out Dean instantly. The other one just aims his gun at Eli and gestures to her to come in the hallway. Using the advantage of making two steps, she lifts her right leg and disarms the men. But, she has no time enough to turn around to swing another shoot on the second one. He surrounds her with his arms and the other hits her with the butt of his gun. She falls unconscious. _

_Sam looks at his watch, 4:30 PM. He tries for the third time to call his brother, still no answer. He grabs his bag and turn to face Meg._

_"Sam? What are you doing?"_

_"I've been trying to call my brother for the last 3 hours… I'm just getting his voice mail."_

_"Maybe his phone's turned off."_

_"No, that's not like him… I think he might be in trouble. He told me about a girl he met, that says knowing my father… I don't trust…"_

_"I don't understand…" She briskly cuts him… "Your brother meets a girl and you're panicking?"_

_"No… It's not that!... Meg, it's more complicated…We…"_

_"Yeah! I got it… After everything you told me, you're just running back to him as a puppy dog?..." She remarks bitterly and then takes a more purring voice. "Sam, please… Come with me in California…"_

_"I'm sorry… I can't… He's family…" He turns away. Meg sees him going, a bad look on her face._


	7. Chapter 6

_Chapiter 6_

_Sam and Eli are waking up in a basement. They are faced by the Jorgensen couple, Scottie and the sheriff. The men are armed and Mrs Jorgensen has a tray in her hands. She puts it down on a crate. _

_"What's going to happen to us?" Eli asks her._

_"You should eat as it's still warm." She only replies._

_"The last meal before the Holy Sacrifice, right?" Dean throws aggressively._

_"Why are you doing this to us?" Eli continues._

_"It's for the common good." Mr Jorgensen declares._

_"We are not a couple… We are not married."_

_"Doesn't matter… A man & a woman, that's all we need." The sheriff says._

_They all go back up the stairs and close the door. Dean climbs after them and starts to punch the double door with his shoulder. It was already looked and he hears the characteristic noise of a rod sliding across it_

_Eli starts to look around to find tools or anything that might be of some help._

_"We're not a couple…" He falsely whins… "And you really though that with that poor line they would simply let us go?" He ends harshly._

_"Stop barking at me all the time!… I just wanted to let them think that I'm the weakest one. Maybe they would be less careful watching me, giving us a chance to escape at some point!" She explains angrily._

_"Come on!... I'm not barking at you all the time!... Just surprised by your 'hunting methods'!... You have to chill down a bit, sweetie!"_

_She's getting really pissed. "You're the one that needs to chill, baby!… Look at me, stuck here with you, ready to be butchered by who knows what ancient creature… And why am I here? Because, I trusted your father… He told me you were the best… That I would be safe… Feel safe… And all I got is a yelling yeti moron in all is splendour, thinking I'm the one that put him here in the first place!..." She flings against the wall the wooden stick she had in her hands._

_"Wow, wow, wow…" Dean comes down the stairs. "We're gonna be fine, okay… I'm gonna come with a master plan, just give me time to think about it…" He rubs her arm gently, trying to calm her down… "I'm sorry… You're right, I can act a moron sometimes… You will have to get use to it… It's part of the package…"_

_"You're still mistrustful towards me… I can feel it…" She says a little less aggressively._

_"It's…" He sighs. "If I was not, as sure as hell, I would be a dead man by now. It's not only turned against you… It's everything, everyone… Understand that I do not know you…"_

_"Your father mentioning me in his journal would have sufficed…"_

_"Maybe… Damned, I wish Sam was here… He can make those fluffy puppy eyes and everybody around is in wonderland again!"_

_"I know we didn't meet in nice and quiet circumstances… And I'm sorry about that… But, if we want to have the slightest chance to get out alive, we will have to trust each other… So, could we please make a sort of peace treaty till we cross the Indiana state line again?"_

_"Fair enough!..." He finally sighs. "And we'll see later, about that Indiana State line…OK?" He winks. _

_She takes a deep breath. "First, let's resume all the info we've got…" She sits down on the clay floor._

_"Norse Pagan God, called a Vanir… " He starts to list, walking in a circle. "Its energy comes from an ancient Tree… Sort of sacred tree… His deadly weapon is a scarecrow with a sickle hanging on each hand…"_

_"The tree must most probably be in the orchard… And we will probably be dragged there tonight for the sacrifice…" She comments._

_"Yeah, that image does not help me, by the way!…" Dean says, stopping in front of her._

_"We must find that Sacred Tree…"_

_"When do you think it will be the best time to look for it, huh?… Before or after being sliced by the demonic scarecrow!" He exclaims tritely, in a humdrum way. She sighs heavily. He puts his hands in front of him, showing her he got the message. "OK… Peace… Sorry… Hum, the tree…" _

_"It must be different… Probably, very old… Maybe way bigger that all the others… Could be one of the first trees imported by the homesteaders…" She lifts her head to look at Dean. "The first tree… Why is this rigging a bell to me?... The first tree…" Now, she is standing and starts to walk in circles. He bends to look what is lying under the plate cover on the tray and saw a big juicy cheeseburger… It takes a huge bite of it. "Dean!... " She suddenly shouts. _

_"What?" He strikes, nearly letting the burger drop on the floor._

_"Do you remember that bar sign we were yesterday?"_

_"Vaguely… Why?" Already taking another bite in the burger._

_"There was a tree in the drawing… With an awkward posture, branches mixed together… Sure as I'm standing here, that must be the one!" She says happily._

_The cellar door goes open again. The four same faces, still armed, are looking down at them._

_"It's time." Mrs Jorgensen simply announces._

_They all enter the orchard, tie the two victims firmly, each one on a tree and soon after the small group leave the place._

_"So, what's your plan?" Eli whispers._

_"I'm working on it."  
>"Still?"<em>

_"Don't start, Wisenose!... Hey, do I have to remind you that you're claiming to be a hunter too! Why are you not coming with one!" He bursts out._

_She glides on her back and lift her right leg in the air, trying to bring it as closer as possible to her mouth. "What the hell are you doing?" She starts shaking it, waiting for something to fall from her boot._

_"Damned! They must have searched us when we were unconscious…" She moans, going back in a more comfortable position._

_"I could have told you that… Hum… Second thoughts, no I wouldn't have… It's more fun to watch you playing the rubber woman!" He laughs._

_"Search for your stupid plan and give me a break!" She suggests him the nicest way possible, sticking on their peace agreement they both agreed on earlier._

_"Well, keep an eye on the scarecrow if you really want to be of any help here!" He replies in the same tone. "Is he moving yet?"_

_She stretches the most she can, trying to get a good view on the cross. "I can't see it from here. It's too dark already." She gives it another try, but her wrists are hurting her. "Aoutch! Damned… No way… It's half hidden by another tree."_

_The wind starts blowing again. "Oh, oh?... That ain't good!" Dean says, suddenly being on the alert. Eli makes left-right movements with her arms in an attempt to loosen up the straps and maybe had the possibility to glide her hands through them. They both freeze at the noise of crumpling leaves._

_"Now would be the best time to unveil your Master plan, Dean!"_

_"Yeah! I wish…" His look goes all directions still hoping for a way out. The footsteps are coming closer. "Well, I guess it's the time to say our goodbyes… As short as that was, it was an intense encounter!… I'm a bit frustrated, tho. I would have liked to know all about you…"_

_"Are you always so chatty at the face of death?... This is so pathetic!"_

_"Dean?" A whispering voice comes._

_"The sucker knows my name?" He stammers a bit. A long shape emerges from the dark._

_"Sam?... Oh! Sammy… I take everything back I said… I'm so happy to see you…" He says relieved._

_"Dean!... The hell!…"_

_"Untie me… We have to run away as quickly as possible… How did you get here, by the way?"_

_"I stole a car!"_

_"Ha, ha! That's my boy!" Dean laughs. "Keep an eye on that scarecrow, he could come alive any minute now…" He adds as he was getting on his feet again. _

_"Excuse-me… Guys?... Would you mind setting me free too here?..." Eli's pleading._

_"A scarecrow, you say… What scarecrow?" Dean jumps on his feet to have a look and sees the empty cross with his own eyes. Both men freeze._

_"Guys? Please… I'm still tied up here… Hello… Anybody?" The eldest turns around._

_"Oh!… Yeah!… Sorry, Eli!" He rips of the knife from Sam's hands and cuts the ropes from her wrists. "Sam? This is Eli… Eli, this is my brother Sam… The rest of the introduction, postponed to another date, if you don't mind!... " _

_The trio are running though the orchard, trying to reach the main path. They are stopped in their rush by guns aiming in their direction. The same four people from the village are surrounding them._

_"It seems that our God will have dessert this year" The sheriff grins, looking at Sam._

_The wind becomes stronger, making the trees crack and moan. They all freeze at a low and long roar. Then, a splashing noise. They all transfix as they see a sickle coming through Mr Jorgensen's chest. His wife starts to scream when the scarecrow circles her throat with his other arm._

_Scottie and the sheriff bolt in a second, leaving the 2 brothers and Eli to face the monster. They see him leaving, dragging the Jorgensen's behind him, not caring for any other soul. _

_As he disappears in the dark, everything suddenly went quiet, like nothing happened. _

_"Call that a close one!" Dean sighs heavily, patting Sam's shoulder. He turns toward Eli. "Are you OK?"_

_"Yeah!... Fine… Should we start looking for the Tree?" She asks as she was not impressed by everything they just lived through…_

_"Out of the question!… Never know the sucker gets greedy this year… Best waiting for daylight… I'm a total wreck anyways… Anything for a drink… What about you, Guys?" Sam and Eli are looking at each other and just roll their eyes._

_All in the car Sam had snatched earlier, they head back to the motel._


	8. Chapter 7

_Chapter 7__:_

_The next morning, they come back in the orchard searching for the tree._

_"Where do we start?" Dean wonders._

_"I guess it should be at the back or in the middle of the area… I took a picture of the bar sign… It should look like this…" Eli replies showing them her widescreen cell phone. "And I made another discovery… 'Det Första Trädet', the name of that bar, means 'The First Tree' in Swedish… We should have looked that up from the start!" She blames._

_"Yeah, do I look like a foreign language geek!" turning around to his brother. "See, what I mend about her attitude!"_

_"I know another one acting like that sometimes!..." Sam smirks._

_ Dean ignores him and starts looking around._

_At the far end of the orchard, they all stop in front of a massive tree._

_"That must be it!" Dean says. Sam opens the jerrycan he was carrying and starts to generously spray the truck._

_"Wait before you torched it" Eli says, putting her hand on Dean's arm, already lighting his Zipo. "I'd like to take a picture of those inscriptions engraved… For my own research…"_

_"Knock yourself out!…" He says, showing her the way… "Her own research… Pfff!..." He shrugs. Sam frowns at him… "What?..." He asks. When she finishes, he finally torched it. "Now, go… Wherever you belong… And do never come back!... Amen!" He jokes. _

_They stay there looking at the flames slowly raising in the branches and engulfing the leaves one by one._

_Somewhere in the middle of the night, Meg sits on the passenger seat of another van. The driver asks her where she was going and if she was in a hurry. She smiles at the guy and flirty replies "And if you pulled over…" With no other hesitation, he parks his vehicle on the side of the unattended road, already in expectation of what could come next._

_She slightly turns to face him, lifts her arm as she was going in an embrace and in a brisk move cuts his throat from ear to ear. The warm blood starts to run along his neck. The man makes a last gurgle, his eyes wide open. She takes a silver chalice out of her bag and presses it against the man's throat to collect some of the blood._

_She starts to chant an incantation in Latin, the liquid slowly moves in circles in the bottom._

_"I could have stopped Sam… Hell, I could have taken them both!…" She says looking in it. "Why let them go?... How so?... A woman with them?... Oh, that must be the girl Sam was referring when he left me to help Dean…" She continues with an evil look in her eyes. "When time comes… Would you let me take out her first?..." She stops, waiting for an answer. "Yes… Yes… " She softly breath. "Yes, Father!... I will…"_

_After collecting all their stuff, they are happy to leave Burkittsville behind them._

_Dean, driving his Impala, asks Eli: "What are you gonna do now?... Can we drop you somewhere?"_

_"Well actually no… Guess you're stuck with me, Guys…" _

_"What?... No, no, no, no…" He says with an astonish look on his face._

_"Sorry… But, that was the order!" She says with a smile…_

_"Says who?..."_

_"You're Dad!..." She hands over her cell phone to let the two guys listen to the last voice message she received from John earlier today._

_"Where in heaven did he get the idea that it would be better for us to stick together?" Dean bursts, referring to a sentence their dad said in the message._

_"The only thing, your father told me was that I had a role, a purpose in this final hunt… That for now, it would be safer for me to be with you. That's why he sent me away… But he didn't explain anything else… I'm sure he knows more. I've asked him at least a thousand times already… The answer was always the same: You will know in due time." Eli tells the two men._

_"Yep, sounds absolutely like him." Dean smiles. "Well, my dear lady, we will have to adjust on certain things… Hope you have your own money income."_

_"Don't worry about that… I have everything I need. And I will pay my share." She smiles back at him, showing him a roll of dollar bills she took in her shoulder bag._

_"Good… And no three hours phone calls, chatting, laughing, babbling with some girlfriends when I'm in the same room… Except if their hot, then I'm counting on you to pass me their numbers!" He smirks._

_"I do not have many friends… So, that won't happen much…"_

_"Hum… Another rule: Bathroom share time. Equal for all." Dean continues._

_"I'll take my own room… No problem either."_

_"Wrong answer!... Dad insisted on the stick together thing… So, same room, 3 beds!" He looks at Sam stunned by this conversation. "What?"_

_"You start to scare me, Bro… It's like listening to Dad all over again!…"_

_"Any other rules I'll think of, I'll let you know as one goes along…" He finishes, proud of himself._

_"Come on… She isn't 10. I think she can take care of herself!" _

_"Whatever…" Dean shrugs._

_"Actually, you made a good job back there, together I mean… There was a connection… I could feel that!" Sam jokes._

_"Just shut up, Sammy…" Eli laughs up on her sleeve as he pushes a bit more on the gas pedal._


	9. Chapter 8

_Chapter 8_

_Two weeks later in Fitchberg, Wisconsin. _

_A little girl is praying, knelled against her bed. "Now I lay me down to sleep… I pray the Lord my soul to keep… Thy angels watch me through the night… And keep me safe till morning light… Amen" She chants._

_Her dad is putting her to bed. "Good night, my sweet little angel…"_

_"When is mommy coming home?" She asks._

_"Soon… She has to stay at the hospital, watching over your sister… Sleep tight now." He shuts out the light in her room._

_Branches are softly knocking against the panes with the wind, waking her up. The screeching noise scares her; she buried herself deeper into the duvet. But something slowly opens the window. A dark long shade is sliding in her bedroom. Long gnarled fingers are rubbing along her little body and slowly start to uncover her. An old man dressed in a habit, a hood over his head, is bending down to her. She wants to scream, but no sound comes out of her mouth. She is so afraid that the only thing she can think of is to close her eyes tightly, hoping it will go away._

_Eli, Sam and Dean are driving to a road boarded with trees._

_"So, you're sure about this, Eli?... Because, I've checked all possible sources I regularly use, even local police records and newspapers… I couldn't find anything weird in Fitchberg." Sam says._

_"I'm positive… There is something there…" She maintains._

_"Well, show me what you have found…"_

_"In fact… I don't have a file… Hum…" She starts a bit annoyed._

_"You received another message from our Dad?" Dean asks._

_"No… No message… It's… kinda strange…"_

_"Strange is our business, dear… You know that…" The elder grins._

_"It's my Sixth sense…"_

_"Your what?" Sam turns around…_

_"Yeah! Tell him about that!" Dean laughs._

_She shrugs. "Last evening, while in my bath, I made one of my travels… Again… This time, I was a little girl. She was sleeping in her bed and…" She relates the scene of the old man coming through the window of the infant's bedroom. _

_"You have visions?" Sam is quiet surprise to hear that._

_"There aren't visions… I have… It's more like mind travelling… Like my soul entering someone else's… I can see what they see, taste what they taste… Such things… But, I can't stop anything from happening… I'm just a witness… But they are always related to supernatural manifestations."_

_"I can't believe it… You have abilities?... When did it start?" Sam inquires._

_"A year back… Why do you ask?"_

_"Why this particular event and not another one?... There are sometimes paranormal activities all around the country at the same time… How do you sort it out?" Dean cuts._

_"I can't… It just comes to me, unexpectedly… I'm not controlling anything… The facts are happening in real time as I go into trance… That's why there are not visions… It's like live broadcasting…" She cracks a smile._

_"How did you know this was happening in Wisconsin?" Sam asks._

_"While in their mind, I gathered all kinds of information… I couldn't do that in the beginning... Well, I didn't know I could… Anyways… I got things like: Where they live… What's there name… Etc…"_

_"That's so weird…" Dean shaking his head… "And I'm warning you right now… Don't you ever try to enter my brain, you got that?" He threatens her._

_"Like I told you, I can't control the thing or entering by myself into a trance… So, you're safe, pervert!" He rolls his eyes._

_"So, you saw exactly what happened to that little girl… What took her away? A ghost? A monster?" Sam continues._

_"No, she closed her eyes… I just vaguely saw an old man with hood on his head…"_

_"Like a monk?"_

_"Dunno… But one thing I'm sure off… It wasn't human!"_

_"What happened after?"_

_"I just felt numb and I woke up in my bath again…"_

_"So, Fitchberg it is… Let's see if that Sixth Sense of yours really works." Dean says still a bit sceptical._

_Dean is crossing the street, carrying a carton tray with three cups of coffee. "Well… For now, nobody I questioned heard about anything special going on." He explains, holding out them to the two others leaning against the car._

_Eli was examining a playground a few yards away. "Why are there no kids playing?... School's out for today, isn't it?… It's after 4PM." She murmurs._

_They all walk towards a woman sitting on a bench, staring into space._

_"Are you okay, Ma'am?" Dean asks gently. She slowly turns her head to him, tears in her eyes. Eli sits next to hear._

_"Why are you so sad?" Eli questions, taking the woman's hand in hers._

_"My poor, poor children… They're practically all sick now… And the few others I have, their parents don't dare sending them to school anymore, afraid of catching it…" She sobs._

_"You're a teacher here?"_

_"Yes…"_

_"How many of the kids are sick?"_

_"The Ninth got sick this morning…" Taking a tissue in her pocket to blow her nose._

_"Do you know what they suffer from?" Sam asks._

_"No… They are all at the hospital… That's all I know."_

_Dean looks sadly at the only child playing on the jungle gym._

_The two brothers, dressed in suits, are entering the County General Hospital._

_"Dude, I'm so not using this ID!" Sam moans._

_"Why not?" Dean smirks._

_"Because, it says 'Bikini Inspector' on it!"_

_"Really?... Let me see…" His elder innocently replies, looking closely at the little plastic card._

_"Why that grin on your face?... You already knew this, right?"_

_"Hey, don't fall on my back… Eli was in charges of the fakes this time!" Holding up his hands in surrender._

_"Yeah!... But, I'm sure this was supposed to be yours!..." Sam shoots back. Dean starts to laugh… "I start to have enough of those stupid little games of yours!..."_

_"Don't worry, Sammy, the nurse won't look that close… You'll see… It's all about self-confidence!" He is pushing him in front of the counter._

_"Hi… I'm Doctor Jerry Kaplan, Centre for Diseases Control…" He recites with his best smile._

_"Can I see some ID, please…" The attendant asks. Dean turns his back from them, enable to hold his laugh. Sam frowns at him, taking his wallet in his back pocket, showing the ID as quickly as possible to the young woman behind her desk._

_"Could you direct us to the paediatric department, please?" He says, smiling with all his teeth._

_"Sure… Down the hall… Turn left… Up one floor."_

_"Thanks… Have a good day." He rejoins his brother. "You'll pay for this…"_

_"I didn't do…" Dean pleads._

_"Both of you!" He hammers already taking the pointed direction._

_Passing through the hospital hall, Dean looks absently inside one of the rooms to a long grey haired old lady in a wheelchair, her back turned to the door. He freezes when she slowly pivots her head to him, like she was feeling he was staring at her. She has a nasty look on her face. His eyes widen as he sees the upside down crucifix hanging on her wall._

_"Dean…" Sam calls, making a move with his head for him to come._


	10. Chapter 9

_Chapter 9_

_"Thanks for seeing us, Dr Heidecker." Dean says._

_"I'm glad you're here..." The doctor replies._

_"So, you say you've got nine cases so far?" Sam asks._

_"Yes… In only 5 weeks… First I thought it was pneumonia… Something we can cure easily those days… But now, I don't understand… The Kids aren't responding to antibiotics. Their white cell counts keep dropping. Their immune systems aren't doing their job anymore… It's like their bodies are wearing out!" Heidecker explains._

_"Ever see anything like it before, Doctor?" Sam continues._

_"Never this severe, nor that fast contagious… And a weird thing…"_

_"What, Doctor?" The youngest comes now fully focused._

_"It seems that only children are falling sick, no adults… Just one sibling after another in different families." He saddens._

_"Can we ask some questions to the kids?" Dean requests._

_"I'm sorry, they are not conscious…"_

_"None of them?"_

_"No… None…"_

_"Is there any of the parents around, we can talk too?"_

_They are standing in front of a man, holding a rag doll in his hands._

_"We really appreciate you talking to us, Sir… Despite the present circumstances." Sam says gently. "So, Mary is your oldest daughter you said?"_

_"Yes, she's 13…" The man answers still pretty shaken up._

_"She felt sick first, right?"_

_"Yeah… Then Bethany the next night…"_

_"Within 24 hours?" He blenches a little._

_"Do you have an idea how they could have caught this?... Maybe they've catch a cold a few days before or something… Notice anything?" Dean stepping in the conversation._

_"No, we think it was an open window."_

_"Both times?"_

_"The first morning, I don't remember... But definitively for Bethany, because I closed it before I put her to bed."_

_"Could she have opened it?" Sam taking over again._

_"No… There is a security latch on it… No way she could've the strength to open it… Do you have more questions? Because I'd like to go back to my daughters…"_

_"No… Not for the moment… We thank you, Sir… Your help is very much appreciated." Sam thanks him. _

_"Maybe, there is nothing supernatural here… Or we are on the wrong track and this has nothing to do with what Eli saw in her whatever travel thing she calls it…" Dean says, walking out of the hospital._

_"Let see what she found out…"_

_While the brothers investigate on the sick children, Eli is walking down the streets, looking for the little girl's home._

_Her eyes on the map, she finally finds the street. She stops in front of a nice fresh painted house. "That's it…" She whispers, recognizing the place. She opens a green coloured fence door. Nobody seems to be home. So, climbing the few steps leading to the front door, she kneels to lift the plant pot and takes the spare key hidden under it. _

_She enters discreetly, stays in the entrance for a minute to be sure that any noise was coming from any corner of the house. And only then she starts looking around and takes the large hard wooden stairs that leads to children's bedroom. She pulls out her EMF detector from her shoulder bag and walks around the room, waiting for any signs of movement from the needle. But, nothing happens. She goes for her blue light gear and follows the frames of the door and all the windows. But no trace of anything unusual either. "What could have happen here? There seems to be any signs of breaking in… Any struggle… And if the girl was abducted, why isn't there an avalanche of police guys running around right now?…" She excogitates. She continues her inspection on the large window where she saw the shadow enters in her 'travel' experience, trying the latch and the resistance to open it. Her gaze is suddenly attracted by a black mark on the outside windowsill. She bends over to have a closer look. "What is this? A sort of long hand or foot print, maybe a paw… Carved into the wood… No, it seems to be burned in it..." She pulls her cell phone out of her jeans pocket and takes a picture of it._

_The trio are gathered around a table in a local snack bar. The brothers start first to tell their findings at the hospital, ending with their conclusion that maybe that had nothing to do with what Eli saw in her trance._

_"Did you see the kids? Did you ask for copies of their files?" Eli asks._

_"No, why? You think that this could be it anyways?" Sam replies._

_"A little too much of a coincidence, don't you think?"_

_"I thought you were saying that the girl was kidnapped." Dean steps in._

_"That was just an assumption I made… I didn't see that 'man' taking her anywhere or anything like it… And the room I visit was clean, the bed made and everything."_

_"So, what did you found in the house? Anything interesting at all?" Sam asks._

_"Nothing on the EMF or the Blue Light… At first sight, nothing supernatural… But, I found this on the outside windowsill" She shows them the picture. "I took it from the window where the shadow entered the room." She adds._

_"I'll be damned!" Dean exclaims. "I already saw this before… And I know what this is… It's a Shtriga's hand?"_

_"A what?" Sam asks._

_"A Shtriga… Dad got one when I was about 9 or 10…"_

_"What does a Shtriga do exactly?" Eli requests._

_"It attacks children." Dean replies, a worried look on his face._

_The night slowly falls over town. They are driving throughout the city, on their way to a motel they located on their map. _

_Dean carefully turns into a parking lot and stops his car in front of the reception. Eli and Sam pull out 3 duffels from the truck, while the elder enters the front office. _

_He rings the call bell. A boy is coming from the main room, behind the counter._

_"Hi… Do you have a room with three beds, please?" He asks._

_The kid has a peek outside and sees the 2 others chatting and smiling together. "Three beds? You're sure?"_

_"Or two communicating rooms?" Dean continues a little dazed by the confident of that 10 year old._

_"Even better… " He retorts between his teeth._

_"What did you say?"_

_"Nice car… " The boy smiles._

_The reception door goes open again and a woman enters. "Hi" She politely smiles. "Checking in?"_

_"Yes" Dean answers._

_"Do me a favour, Honey… While I'm busy with this customer, go get your brother some diner, will you?" She asks her son. _

_He sighs and goes back in the living room. "They want a three bedder." He adds with a smirk._

_"Funny kid!" Dean remarks._

_"Oh, yeah… He thinks so." The mother replies. "I don't have a room with three beds, but I can give you the small apartment… It has two bedrooms, with a bathroom and a little kitchen." She adds, looking in her register._

_"Perfect…"_

_"Cash or Credit?"_

_"Credit…" Dean hands over one of the plastic squares he has in his wallet and starts to fill in the booking sheet. He's having a look inside the room behind the counter and sees the boy pouring a glass of milk to his little brother. It suddenly reminds him about Sam and him when they were their age. He's driven back from his reverie by the woman giving him back his credit card, the receipt and their keys. "Oh… Sorry… Thanks…" He signs the papers and goes back outside._


	11. Chapter 10

_Chapter 10_

_In their small apartment, Sam is searching on the Internet about the Shtriga, while Eli is making some sandwiches._

_"A Shtriga is a sort of witch… They're Albanian, but the legends seem to go way back to Ancient Rome… They feed on 'Spiritus Vitae'…" He recites._

_"Spiri what?" Dean asks, leaning onto the bar that circle the little kitchen, ogling on the food she was preparing._

_"'Breath of life' in Latin." She retorts, putting down empty plates on the counter._

_"Thanks, Wisenose!"_

_"Kinda like your life force or essence." Sam adds._

_"Didn't the doctor say something about the kid's bodies wearing out?" Dean questions._

_"Anyways… Shtrigas can feed from anyone…" Sam continues. "But, they prefer…"_

_"Children…" The elder echoes the obvious._

_Eli puts one triple-decker sandwiches on each plate. Dean pounces on one of them, but she hits his hand with the spoon. "I ain't finish!" She says. She leaves the kitchen and start setting the table._

_"Shtrigas are invulnerable to all weapons known to God and men… Except when she feeds… A consecrated iron ring would put her to death… " Sam raises his head to look at the two others._

_"What's it look like? " She asks, now sitting next to him on the bed. He turns the screen to her… She looks at the different drawings, but none really matches what she glimpsed. "How we're gonna find that thing?" She continues._

_"Shtrigas takes a human disguise when they're not hunting…" Dean replies._

_"How do you know that?" Sam asks._

_"Dad told me and I just remember… Preferable on old woman… Can we eat now?" Still staring at the plates._

_Sam is looking at the map from the area. "Hang on a second…" He suddenly goes up from the bed and put the map on the counter. "Check this out… I marked all the addresses of the victims so far… And what do we find in the centre?" He asks around. "The hospital!"_

_Eli checks it too and points one of the red crosses Sam at drawn. "That's my little girl's house…"_

_"Yeah… And a matter of fact, when we were at the hospital this morning, I saw an old lady, a patient…" Dean claims._

_"An old lady, huh?" Sam smiles._

_"Yeah!..."_

_"In a hospital?... Wouff! Better call the coast guards!" The youngest retorts, taking a plate and sitting in front of the table. Eli starts to laugh, another plate in her hand, joining him._

_"Listen, Smartasses. She had an inverted cross hanging on her wall, okay?" Dean tempers, finally taking a sandwich and biting a huge piece of it._

_Later that evening, they decide to all go back to the hospital to check out the old woman._

_In front of her closed room door, Dean takes out is handgun._

_"You sure this is not a little too much?" Eli whispers._

_"We don't know how a Shtriga can flips out of its meet suit…" He shrugs._

_They quietly enter the room. Dean is approaching slowly the wheelchair. He goes closer and closer, till… "Who's there?" She barks. He jumps in stupor, hitting a chest behind him. He aims the old lady, but quickly remarks she is blind._

_"Sorry Ma'am, I'm the night nurse… I thought you were asleep…" Eli calmly says._

_"Yeah! Like I could sleep with my pipers wide open!" She answers briskly._

_"Don't you need anything, Ma'am?" Eli continues._

_"If you could just fix that crucifix… It's the fourth time I ask!" Dean barely touches it and it falls right back in its original position._

_"There… Done… Well, goodnight now, Ma'am…" Eli finished, making a sign at the two men to leave the room before, following them and closing the door behind her._

_"That was a job sharply done, isn't it?…" The older jokes, putting his gun away._

_The next morning, Dean goes out of the apartment. He sees the boy from last evening sitting on a bench, his eyes on the ground. "Hey… What's wrong?" He softly asks him._

_"My brother got sick… He is in the hospital…" The kid mumbles._

_"When did that happen?"_

_"Last night… It's all my fault… I didn't check if the window was closed…"_

_Dean kneels in front of him. "Listen to me… What's your name, by the way?"_

_"Michael…"_

_"Listen, Michael… I can promise you this is not your fault, okay?"_

_"It's my job to look after him." He pleads._

_At that time, his mom comes out, carrying things to bring to the hospital. "You turn on the 'No Vacancy' sign while I'm gone… Denise will arrive in an hour to do the room service." She nervously explains to her son._

_"I'm going with you!" He answers._

_"Not now…"_

_"I gotta see Asher!" He raises his voice._

_Eli is also coming out of the apartment. She sees the three talking and approaches._

_"Hey, man… I know how you feel right now… I'm a big brother too… But, you gotta go easy on your mom, okay?" Dean patronizing him._

_"What's wrong?" Eli inquires._

_"His little brother felt sick last night." He quickly resumes in a knowing look. She nods to show him she understood._

_In her hast, the mother drops her purse on the floor. "Damned!"_

_"You're in no condition to drive… Let me give you a lift." Dean proposes._

_"No… No… It's Okay… Really…" She answers._

_"I insist… And Eli here will take care of Michael, while you're at the hospital… Right, Eli?"_

_"Sure… No problem…" She smiles. "If it's okay with Mickey of course?" Looking at him and putting an arm around his shoulder. The kid shrugs for all answer._

_The mother, finally convinced, hands over her keys to Dean and kisses her son's forehead. "Be good, okay?"_

_She opens the passenger's door and sits down._

_"Explain the situation to Sam and stay with Michael… I'll call you later…" He whispers to Eli, before climbing in the car too._

_A few hours later, Dean, as promised earlier, gives Sam a call._

_"Hey… How's the kid?" Sam asks._

_"Not good… Where are you?" The elder says._

_"At the library, looking for everything I can about this Shtriga… And don't worry; Eli is with Michael, trying everything to cheer him up…"_

_"Good!… So, what do you got on that thing?"_

_"Well, bad news, bro… Every 15 to 20 years, it hits a new town… It goes on for month before it leaves for another one… Dozens of kids falling into a coma and then die… I already found four cities hit by it… Oh! Waouw…" He suddenly stops._

_"What?"_

_"Hold on… I'm looking at a photograph right now of a bunch of Doctors standing around a kid's bed… One of the doctors is Heidecker…" Sam explains, stunned…_

_"And?"_

_"And this picture was taken in… 1893!"_

_"You're sure?" Dean says, his voice trembling._

_"Yeah!... Absolutely!"_

_Dean slowly closes his phone and turns around to face the doctor busy to comfort Asher's mom a few steps away._

_Heidecker then approaches him. "SO, what's the CDC comes up with so far?" He asks innocently._

_"We have a few leads… We'll let you know more as soon as possible." Dean retorts, doing an extra effort to keep his fists in his pockets._

_"Let me know if I can be of any help!". The doctor pats him on the shoulder and leaves the room._


	12. Chapter 11

_Chapter 11_

_"We should have thought this before!..." Sam whispers to Eli, looking at Michael reading a magazine on the bed. "Doctor is a perfect disguise… You trust him… And he can control the whole thing…" He raises his voice a bit._

_"Chuuu… Not so loud, he can hear you…" She says. "Can't we do anything to stop him while he is in his human form?" She asks._

_"Nope… Totally bulletproof!"_

_"Dean must probably already have jumped on his throat!" She smiles._

_"That would really not help our case… Worse, it would tap him off about what we know and puts it on the run to another town…"_

_"Eli?" A shy voice coming from the other side of the room._

_"Yes, Mickey…" She sits next to him._

_"May I go back to my room, now?..."_

_"Sure… I'm coming with you… Maybe you could teach me a thing or two how about running a motel." She winks to Sam, who nods in understanding._

_Sam goes once more through at all the info they have on the Shtriga, when the door swings open. "That son of a bitch!" Dean yells, throwing his jacket violently on the first chair he founds on its way to the fridge. "If I didn't know better, I could have smoked him right there!" He continues, opening a bottle of beer. "But, on my way back, I start thinking… And I might know a way to get that Bastard down!"_

_"What do you mean?" Sam asks._

_"The Shtriga works through siblings, right?… And last night, it went after Asher… Tonight, it's gonna come after Michael… For sure!"_

_"Then we have to get him out of here…"_

_"No, that would blow the whole plan." _

_Eli comes back at that moment. "Another of your master plans, I suppose!" She says ironically._

_"Wait a sec'… You wanna use the kid as bait?" Sam questions his brother to be sure he got it right._

_"What kid?" She asks._

_"Michael… Dean thinks the Shtriga could come for him tonight!" Sam answered quickly._

_"And he wants to use Mickey to attract the sucker?" She turns to Sam and he nods a 'yes'. "Are you totally out of your mind, Dean!... It's out of the question!..." She yells at the elder._

_"Eli's right, man… It's too dangerous!"_

_"It's the only way…"_

_"He's just a kid!... He isn't prepared for that kinda things!" She pleads._

_"It is the only way…" Dean repeats._

_"I can hide under the covers and be the bait… Use me!" She continues._

_"No, that won't work… It needs to get close to feed… I'll know it's a trap… Believe me, I don't like this as much as both of you, guys." He answers calmly, standing in front of the two sitting on one of the beds._

_Sam and Dean, in the lobby, are slowly explaining to Michael what is happening._

_"You're crazy!... Go away or I call the police!" He shouts._

_"Wait a minute… Just listen to me… You have to believe us… This thing came through the window and attacked your little brother… I've seen it once… I know what it looks like…" Dean says again._

_"This… Thing… Is it waring a long black robe?" Michael asks hesitantly, suddenly calmed down._

_"You saw it, didn't ya?"_

_"I thought I had a nightmare…"_

_"Well, this nightmare… For once… Was real!"_

_"Why are you telling me all this?" The kid going a bit nervous again._

_"Because, we need your help." Dean says slowly._

_"My help?"_

_"We can kill it… But, we need your help."_

_"Me? For what?... No… I don't wanna see it again…" He panics, understanding what they wanted from him._

_"Listen… This thing hurts Asher and it's gonna keep hurting children unless we stop it."_

_"I don't care…" The boy runs away, slamming the door of his apartment._

_Back in theirs, Dean narrates to Eli the meeting with Michael. "It went crappy…" He finished his speech._

_"Okay… I'm not fond of your plan… But, you're right, it's the only way to get rid of it… So, let me talk to him…" She sighs._

_"Yeah! That's really what the kid needs right now… A chick pampering him!" Dean moans._

_"Dean… Let her try… We have nothing to lose." Sam comes at her rescue._

_She's heading to the reception, opens the entrance door, but spots the boy sitting on the outside bench._

_"Hey… Mickey… How are you holding up?" He raises his eyes form the ground. She notices he had cried._

_"I'm sure your little brother will be fine…" She sits next to him._

_"Don't lie to me!… Dean said because of that thing, Asher will die… I'm a coward!" He responds, trying hard not to fall into tears again._

_"Hey… You're not a coward, okay?... How can you say something like that?… You! I don't believe it…" He smiles a bit, shrugging. "You're doing everything for your brother… You're helping your mother with this motel… And you showed me this afternoon how much you know about all this… You know a lot of things… You're pretty mature for your age, you know?" He blushes. "A coward does not do all those things!..."_

_"But, I said 'no' to Sam and Dean…"_

_"That was a first reaction to the news… How could it be otherwise?... You listen to those two lads telling you a horrible story, worth the most terrifying nightmares… You know, that's too much info all at once… In your shoes, I would have totally freaking out and still running right now!" He bursts into laugher, imagining the scene._

_"Are you also hunting and killing monsters?"_

_"I'm more the Intel girl for those two." She lies._

_"Is one of them your boyfriend?" He shyly asks._

_"Nan!... Oh dear!..." She rolls her eyes. She turns to him, taking his nose between two fingers and gently shaking it. "You little nosy!" He giggles._

_"You know what, Eli?… I just re-thought the whole deal… And I think I'm gonna help you!" He says all serious again._

_"You're my hero!" She hugs him tight._

_Both of them are going back to the room, giggling and laughing till Dean opens the door. _

_"OK… I'll do it!" Michael says, lowering his voice to play tough guy. _

_Eli smirks at Dean and gesture hanging herself a medal on her chest._


	13. Chapter 12

_Chapter 12_

_In Michael's bedroom, Dean is installing a wide angle camera on top of the bookshelf. Sam, in the other room, in front of his laptop, watches the images received by the video._

_"This camera has night vision… So, we'll see you as clear as daylight." Dean explains._

_Michael is in his bed, Eli tucking him in. "What do I do?" he asks a little worried._

_"Just stay under the covers." Eli answers._

_"And if it comes?" _

_Dean comes to sit on the other side of the bed. "We're all gonna be in the other room. At the right moment, we're gonna rush in with guns… So, soon as we do, you roll of this bed and crawl under it… Eli will join you ASAP…"_

_"Why if you shoot me?"_

_"He won't… He's the best shooter I know." Eli smiles, to reassure him._

_"And we're not gonna fire until you're safe with Eli, okay?... Those shots are going to make a hell of a noise… Don't forget to cover your ears." Dean adds._

_"You understood everything, Mickey?" She continues._

_"Huh… Huh…"_

_"You have other questions." Dean asks. The boy shakes his head for 'no'._

_"Honey, if you don't want to do this anymore, just say it… No one will be mad at you" She says suddenly fearing for him._

_"No… I have to… For my little brother…"_

_"That's my man!... And I won't let anything happen to you… I promise!" The elder appeases him. _

_Eli gives the boy a kiss on his forehead before they both leaving the room._

_The trio are watching attentively the screen. Sam has an earphone glued on his hear, at the alert of any noise coming from the kid's room. For now, only the wind is slowly blowing outside, in little gusts._

_Eli stands up and goes to the table in the back, where they have put a thermos bottle and some carton cups._

_"Anyone coffee?" She asks around._

_"No thanks" The brothers replies in unison._

_"Dean… There's something I need to tell you…" Sam whispers, coming closer to him._

_"What?"_

_"When you and Eli where sitting on the boy's bed, talking softly to him… I was so moved by that scene… You were absolutely adorable!... A real Christmas card picture that was…" He innocently says, hiding as much as possible his urge to laugh. Dean is giving him a side look. "I couldn't help myself… I taped it… As souvenir!"_

_"Oh god! Kill me now!... That is so not funny!"_

_Eli comes back sitting with them. "What's not funny?"_

_"Nothing." Dean mumbles, silently threatening his sibling not to voice any other word. Sam's still smiling, Eli looks at him inquiringly._

_"Hey… Wait… Look!" The oldest says pointing at the screen. They all focus at the screen again. _

_The window opens and the Shtriga slowly enters. Sam and Dean are arming their guns._

_Eli goes near the door, a hand on the handle, ready to open it at Dean's command. The shadow approaches Michael. The image on the screen starts flickering. The boy is totally petrified when the monster bends over to him. It starts to open its mouth, a bright light coming out of it. At Dean's head signal, Eli snaps the door wide. The brothers rush in the bedroom, their guns ready to shoot._

_"Michael! Down!" Dean yells. Eli jumps under the bed with him before they start shooting, every single bullet reaching their target. "Is Mikey all right?"_

_"Yeah! He's fine!" She answers. A deadly silence reigns in the room. Dean walks cautiously to the other side of the bed, checking on the Shtriga. As Eli slowly starts to crawl from under it, holding the boy by the hand, she sees the thing slightly moves._

_"Dean!" She screams. But, the Shtriga, as quick as lightning, pounces on him, throwing him away. Dean's body bounces against the wall. Eli takes Michael in her arms again, huddled up together under the bed. Sam raises his gun; just the time to shoot once more, the Shtriga already hitting him. He falls flat on his back at the other side of the room. The thing sits astride over him, strangling his neck, pinning him down. It slowly bends down._

_"Dean?... Dean?" Eli yells at him, trying to wake him from his unconsciousness._

_One of the hideous hands is opening Sam's jaw, the bright light coming out of the monster. A sort of white smock gradually escapes from Sam's mouth. Eli pushes gently Michael away from her. "Stay here, don't move!" She quickly orders him. She crawls from under the bed and grabs Dean's gun from the floor. "Hey, you?... Don't you dare hurting my family!" She roars angrily. The Shtriga raises its head and she fires off one bullet right between its eyes. The detonation makes Dean coming out of the blue. He sees Eli completely immobile; her arms stiff holding the smoking gun still pointing to what was the target a few seconds before. Her eyes filled with rage and tears. _

_The two brothers pick themselves up and Michael's head comes cautiously out of his hiding place. "Eli?" He carefully calls. "Are you alright?" _

_Dean approaches her, takes delicately his gun from her hands. "Hey? It's okay now… You did it… It's gone… Look…" He shows her the deflated monk suit on the floor._

_The boy rushes from under the bed and puts his arms around her waist. Only at that time, she starts reacting again._

_Sam and Dean surround the now gone thing. The elder raises his gun and shoots another 3 bullets to what's left of its face. "You will never hurt anyone anymore!" He says in throaty voice._


	14. Chapter 13

_Chapter 13_

_The next morning, they are packing their stuff. Sam is busy to arrange the trunk. Dean lays down on the ground one of their duffels, waiting his brother to finish. Eli closes the little apartment door behind her, carrying her own luggage._

_The boys' mom comes to meet them. "Hi, Joanna… How's Asher?" Dean asks._

_"Much better… He seems to have recovered a lot since last night… They still want to keep him a couple of days in observation, but otherwise he is doing fine… The other kids too, by the way… Dr Travis has no explanations on this fast healing." She explains._

_"Dr Travis? And Dr Heideker?" Sam questions innocently._

_"He was not in today. He must have been sick or something… Have you seen Michael?"_

_Eli knows where to find him. She goes behind the building and there he was, sitting on the same bench again. "Hey, Mickey… What's up?" She starts._

_"You're leaving, isn't it?" He sadly says._

_"Yeah!... We have finished this job…"_

_"OK, well 'bye then…" He distractedly waves, his eyes pinned on the ground._

_She sits next to him. "Hey, don't do that kinda face at me… Why are you mad?"_

_"I'm not mad… But, just go now…"_

_"Mickey…" She sighs. "I really don't wanna leave, knowing that we aren't friends anymore." She softly expresses._

_"Friends, huh?" He slightly smirks._

_"Good, loving and caring friends, yes… And for your info, I don't have lots of them around, you know… In fact, I only have one!"_

_"Who?"_

_"You… Silly!" She wears a tender smile._

_"And Sam? And Dean?... You shouted yesterday they were family." He claims with a little bit of jealousy in his tone. _

_She keeps silence for a moment. "Yeah, sort of… I guess…"_

_"So, you love them?"_

_"In a sort of brotherly kinda way…" She finally hugs him. "I will never forget you Mickey… My one and only… You take good care of yourself, okay… Continue to look after you mom and brother, you're doing a great job… Family is important, you know… And you see anything weird in the neighbourhood… You know what to do, right?"_

_"Yeah, yeah… Call Dean!" He recites with a little smile._

_"Come on… Let's go say goodbye to the guys… And, your mom is back from the hospital too… You don't wanna know how Asher's doing?" She holds out her hand for him to take it._

_They run together to join the rest of the group. "Where've you been up to?" Dean asks Eli. She just smirks mysteriously. Michael rushes into his mother's arms._

_"So, are we all set? We got road to do today…" Dean requests. The brothers high five Michael. "Take care of yourself, Mickey…" The elder says merrily._

_"Don't call me that…" The boy retorts with a serious look in this eyes._

_"But, I though… " Looking at Eli._

_"Yeah… Only her…" Michael flings. "Oh and one last thing, Dean…" He stares at him, a daring gaze on his face. "I'm warning you… If I hear that you don't take good care of Eli… I'll hunt you down and fix you up good! Got me?" ._

_Sam and Joanna bursts into laughter at the surprised face Dean was making._

_Eli kneels in front of the kid and softly kisses his cheek. He instantly blushes and runs away to his mom's car. "Can we go see Asher now?" He pleads._

_"Yes… We're going." Joanna smiles. "I'll better follow him before he starts to drive the car!... Have a safe trip you guys." She turns around and rejoins her son._

_The trio back in the Impala, are leaving the motel too. "That was a job well done!" Dean says._

_"Yeah! Blessing that I was there to save your ass!... Just saying!" Eli points out._

_"What?... No way!"_

_"Yes way!... You were lying there, on the floor, taking a nap; the whole time that thing sucked the life out or your brother's body!" She continues the joke, seeing it was working on Dean. Sam just looks at them, amused by the scene._

_"I was fucking knocked out!" He raises his voice._

_"Oh, poor little thing!… One slap around your ear and you're playing Sleeping Beauty!... What a man!..."_

_"Oh… Shut up, will ya!…"_

_"And did you see that, Sam… I got the bastard just between the eyes!" She raises._

_"Just pure luck!" Dean bursts out._

_"Really?... Well, I dare you… On our next stop… Six shots in the red spot of a target, 100 yards away… I bet I put them all in there…"_

_"Deal!... I'm already quivering with pleasure to kick your sorry little ass!"_

_"OK… OK… We got both your point now… So, please stop! I heard enough… From both of you… Jesus! You just sound like an old couple!" Sam finally comes out. _

_Eli bursts into laughter, satisfied._

_Dean, not making any other comment, turns on the car radio, a soft rock tune coming out of it._

Page **2** of **2**


	15. Chapter 14

_Chapter 14_

_In a bar, a local live band is preparing their instruments. Dean is leaning on the counter, flirting with a young woman._

_"Seven… Four… Two… Zero" She finishes, him typing the digits in his cell phone._

_"Is it Brandy with a 'y' or an 'i'?" He asks her with a seductive smile._

_A little further away, Sam and Eli are going through several newspapers, sitting on high-chairs around a table. She gives a quick look at Dean, watching what he was up too. She lowers her head, shaking it as a slow 'no' and continues her reading._

_A few days earlier, in a northern New York state town, a couple is entering their post-modern home. They are giggling, a bit tipsy after the charity party they attend. The man is putting down, next to the open fire, the old frame they purchased and they are staring at it._

_"Could you please explain me once more why we took this thing?" The woman asks._

_"You were the one who told me it could fit perfectly above the fireplace" Her husband puts._

_She is taking a false offended look. "It was for a good cause…" She snuggles in his arms and he starts to kiss her. "Let's go upstairs… I'll make it up to you…" She whispers in his ear._

_"Give me a minute to lock everything and I'm all yours, darling."_

_She's climbing the stairs, while her husband checks the front door and engages the alarm._

_He hears a creaking noise, turns around but notices anything. He gives a last look at the painting – A family from the early 1900 years, in their Sunday clothes. The mother is sitting in the middle. Her two boys standing next to her in front of a coffee table, an open razorblade on it. The father's behind the chair, looking sideways at his daughter, a hand on her shoulder. – and shuts down the lights. _

_The husband is going upstairs too. Slowly, the father in the frame starts moving, turning his head to follow the man._

_The spouse is already in bed, when he gropes his way along. He is throwing his closes on the floor, hurrying to rejoin her. He puts a hand on the matrass and feels something humid._

_"Hun?… Did you spill something?" He asks. He turns on the light and discovers his wife covered in blood. "Ann!... Oh my God!..." He screams, falling flat on his back. From the corner of his eyes, he spots a movement on his right. His face shows pure fear and all goes black._

_Sipping on his beer, Sam suddenly looks up to check where his brother is. Dean is still wooing the blond at the counter. He waves at him. The other, one finger in the air, is asking him to hold for a minute. But, Sam insists._

_"What is it?" Eli asks as she sees him moving._

_Dean apologizes to his new conquest and arrives at the table._

_"Better be important, man!" He protests._

_"I think I got something" Sam starts._

_"Yeah, me too… You see… Well, I could use a tiny short leave… Ya know… I'm so about to get out the door with that one over there…" Dean's still glimpsing at the counter. A sad look is suddenly falling on Eli's face, but does as if she was still absorbed by her newspaper._

_"So, what role are we playing today, huh? Rock stars? Army Rangers?..." Sam asks._

_"Reality-TV producers, looking for people with skills…" Dean cuts, the youngest busting into laughter. "OK… What do you got?..."_

_"A couple, Ann and Mark Telesca, New Paltz, New York found dead in their home. Throats were slit. No prints, no murder weapon." Dean seems distracted. "Dean?" He faces him again. "All doors and windows locked from the inside."_

_"That's just sound murder to me, not our department." His brother says, swallowing a gulp of his beer._

_"No… Dad thinks different in his journal… He noted three murders in the same area. First one in 1912, second in 1945 and third 1970. Same M.O. as the Telescas… It doesn't appear as a serial killing because of the gap of years between them…" Sam continues._

_"Dad's a genius!" Dean smirks. "All right, I'm with you… Let's check this out… Hum, tomorrow morning, okay?"_

_"Heu… Yeah!" Sam is cut by surprise, his brother already leaving his chair. _

_But, he makes a small stop next to Eli. "You should loosen up a little, babe!" _

_"Sorry?" She lifts her gaze to him._

_"Sam? Buy that poor woman a drink, will ya!" And he continues his way back to the counter. Eli looks at Sam, playing someone not understanding what just happened. He shrugs, not knowing or not wanting to understand. She turns around to have another look on Dean flirting with that girl again. She sighs discretely and returns to her reading._

_The following morning, Dean is slipping in his car. Eli silently approaches, putting a finger across her mouth to ask Sam to keep quiet too. Sam, in expectation, bends down to watch her next move. She sticks an arm through the open window of the driver's seat and pushes on the horn. Dean violently jumps awake, the two others bursting into laughter._

_"That is so not cool!" He complains in a hoarse voice._

_"A bit of a hangover, Sweetheart!" Eli says, overly slamming the door when she enters the car, making him jump again._

_"While you were having fun; we already checked the history of the house. No haunting, no violent crimes… And nothing strange about the family… Eli went in the house, no EMF signs either" Sam explains to his still sleepy brother._

_"So, it's not the house, nor the people… Must be a cursed objet, then." Dean's trying to get it together again._

_"The house is clean." Eli reminds._

_"Yeah, I know…"_

_"I meant… It's empty… No furniture, no nothing…" She continues._

_"Where is all their stuff?" The elder wonders._

_They arrive in a parking lot full of luxurious cars, classical music coming out of a huge warehouse._

_Overly dressed people are wondering around the alleys full of furniture, a glass of champagne in their hand. A man in his fifties, in a three-piece suit, sees the trio entering the place. He makes for them. "Can I help you?" he says with a pretentious tone._

_"I'd love some Champagne, Please?" Dean comes, playing haughty._

_"Dean, he is not a waiter." Eli whispers, a bit embarrassed._

_"I'm Sam Connors." The younger says, holing up his hand. Since, the man is not making any movement, he continues. "This is my brother Dean… And my sister Eli… We are dealers with Connors Limited." He continues, putting his hand back in his jeans pocket._

_"You are Art dealers?" The man questions suspiciously._

_"That's right."_

_"I'm Daniel Blake… This is my auction house and this is a private showing… I don't remember seeing your names on the guest list." He continues in that same pretentious tone._

_"We're there, Jester… Just need to take another look." Dean winks. Eli frowns, giving him a nudge in his ribs._

_A waiter carrying a tray passes by them. He takes two glasses of Champagne, hands one over to her with a fake smile._

_"If you now please excuse us, Sir…" She says gently, taking Dean by the sleeve. Sam smiles stupidly and follows them._

_They are roaming amongst the items for sale. "You can be such an oafish sometimes!" Eli complains to Dean. He shrugs, not leaving his search. Suddenly, Sam stops in front of a huge painting, representing a family._

_"A fine example of American primitive, wouldn't you say?" A charming voice comes from behind. They all turn around to see a beautiful young woman coming down a spiral staircase._

_"I'd say, it's more Grant Wood than Grandma Moses… But, you knew that, right?... You just wanted to see if I did." Sam declares, as the woman approaches them. _

_"Guilty and clumsy. I apologize… I'm Sarah Blake…" She shyly says._

_"Sam… My sister Eli and brother Dean." He shakes her delicate hand._

_"So, can I help you with something?"_

_"Yes, actually… What can you tell us about the Telesca estate?" Sam asks._

_"It's a little grisly, if you ask me, selling their belongings so soon… But Dad is right about one thing: Sensationalism brings out the crowds… Even the rich ones!" She explains. Sam and Sarah are smiling at each other, staying in eye contact all the time. Eli sees Dean staring at them and she gives him another nudge in his stomach for him to stop._

_"Is it possible to see the provenances?" Sam asks._

_"I'm afraid not…" Mr Blake cuts._

_"Why not?" Eli asks._

_"You're not on the guest list… I double checked… But, I'm not going to ask you twice to leave…" He threatens them lightly._

_"We don't want any trouble, Sir… We are leaving…" Sam politely answers before all going for the exit._


	16. Chapter 15

_Chapter 15_

_They unload the truck with their duffels in front of their motel room. "Grant Wood… Grandma Moses? Where does that come from?" Dean asks a bit surprised._

_"Art History Class… It's good for meeting girl." Sam replies with a smile._

_Entering the room, they freeze on the doorstep, looking at the garnishment of their room. It was fully decorated in a 'Saturday Night Fever' seventies style, all in glitter and glam. Eli burst into laughter. "That's too much… Oh dear… Epic!"_

_"What?... The room?" The two brothers go at the same time._

_"Nan… Your faces!... But, I will take pictures of that room, for sure." And she laughs again._

_"Huh…"_

_They all make it for the two king's size beds in the back of the room. They're looking at each other and then at the third bed on the left, one for a child._

_"OK… Eli you take one of those." Sam says gently and turning his gaze to his brother, warning him not to make any comments. "And we will toss for the other one…" He continues. The brothers face each other and start to count before showing their choice. _

_Dean makes 'scissors' and Sam 'Stone'… "Damned!" The elder bursts._

_"You always do scissors, Dean! You're so predictable on certain things!" Sam laughs. The other one grabs his duffel from the floor and throws it on the small bed. Sam winks at Eli._

_"Now… What's a providence?" Dean asks, rummaging in his bag._

_"Provenance…" Eli corrects._

_"Don't you start, Wisenose…"_

_"It's a certificate of origin, like a biography you can follow the piece's history… Check if it was not once stolen or other things to guarantee that it's not a fake…" Sam explains._

_"Okay… Mr 'Jester' won't give us anything, but I think Sarah might help…" Dean says with a smirk._

_"Yeah, she seemed to like you, Sam…" Eli adds._

_"Me?... No, no, no… Dean, it's more into your things…"_

_"Eli said it, with her own nice and clean words, of course…" He smirks ironically to her. "But, hey… It was really not my butt she was checking out!" He hands over his phone. "Come on, Sammy… Call her!"_

_The same evening, Sam and Sarah are in the cosiest restaurant in town._

_"Glad you called… Surprised, but glad." Sarah starts to break the ice._

_"Really?" He says with a little surprise in his voice._

_"Although it seemed to be a bit difficult for you to bring out the words: 'Would you like to have dinner tonight?'" Sarah smiles._

_"Yeah! It's been awhile since my last date." He is still a little embarrassed._

_"Welcome to the club!"_

_"You're kidding me?" She shakes her head in a slow 'no'._

_They were interrupted by the waiter is handing them the menus and the wine list to Sam. He starts to turn the pages, having no clue on what to order._

_"I don't know about you, Sam, but I'll have a beer!" She comes to the rescue._

_The waiter turns his head to Sam. "Make that two… Thank you." He shyly smiles._

_"Certainly…" The garcon says taking back the wine card._

_On the other side of town, Dean and Eli are sitting in front of each other in a corner of a bar._

_"Why did you drag me here?… Thought you wanted to eat something…" Eli says._

_"We can eat here too!"_

_"You know… If you have the intention to 'meet' one of your women for another one of your 'sleepovers'… Thanks, but I think I'll pass… I'll be better at the motel… I'd like to avoid all kinds of misunderstanding or __awkward__ situations here!" She sarcastically comments._

_"Will you please, just for once, getting off my back!… Lower your guard and have some fun, for Christ's sake!" He sighs._

_"Have some fun?..."_

_"Yeah… You know… Going out… Have a couple drinks… Looking at the world around you… Socialize... That kinda things!"_

_"I know what 'having fun' means, mind you… It's just that I don't wanna play gooseberry!... And also, we are on a hunt… You really think it's appropriate?"_

_"Both are not incompatible, mind you…" He answers, mimicking her tone of voice. "Look Sam… He will come home with the providences for our case and I'm sure, he's having a delightful evening with a very fine lady… Win-win!"_

_"Provenances!" She corrects him again._

_"Whatever!" He leaves his seat and goes at the counter. She sees him ordering some drinks. He comes back with two bottles of beer and two shots of whiskey. "Here… If you want to prove me that once in a while you can go wild… That's something to start with!…" He smiles, putting down the stuff on the table._

_Sam and Sarah have finished their plate and drinking another beer._

_"I flunk Art school, so I started to work with my dad…" She explains. "And you are a pre-law?"_

_"Yeah!" Sam replies._

_"How come you didn't go to law school?"_

_"It's a really long story… For another time" Sam tries to get out of that touchy matter._

_"You're not like any art dealer I ever met."_

_"You told me earlier that it's been awhile that you didn't go on a date, how come?" He changes the subject._

_"My mom died a year ago… Totally unexpected… It really threw me… I closed myself up for some time… And suddenly woke up again… But what about you?... What happened?... You're a reasonably attractive guy…" Sam gently laughs at first, but she has that insisting look on her face and he starts to get uncomfortable, not knowing how to tell her his story… "Hum… I got it… Another long story for another time." She finally drops._

_Eli slams on the table her empty glass upside down. "And that makes me one up front of you… Again, right?" She mumbles a bit. _

_"Hum… Think I got you drunk, that's my win!" Dean laughs._

_"I ain't drunk!… Yet… I think… Am I?" She continues vaguely._

_"Quite, yes!"_

_"Not even close, Mister!… Oh! I love that song (Note: 'Rooster' from Alice in Chain)!" She jumps out of her chair and starts to dance on the little square floor. Dean is watching her, still laughing._

_She approaches him, taking him by the sleeve. "Come dance with me…" She pleads._

_"No way… I'm not the dancing type!" Trying to get rid of her hold._

_She lets him drop back on the chair and sits astride on his lap. "So, you're not the dancing type, huh!… Whatever… I can still dance with you… Right here…" She teases him._

_"Oh, yeah?" He swallows, a little surprised by her sudden audacity._

_She brushes slowly her body against his, moving with the music. She puts her forearms on his shoulders, crossing her fingers behind his neck. Her silky light-red hair's dangling around her face as she rocks into the rhythm._

_Dean starts to get slightly aroused. "Oh, Momma!... For sure, you can make a guy like the dancing thing!... But, who are you?... Where's Eli?..." He softly says under his breath._

_She leaves his lap to start dancing around him, running her hand along his chest and neck. _

_"It's still me, having some fun…" She whispers languorously in his hear. She continues her way to the other side of him and goes back on his lap._

_"You never hide from me any of this kinda info about you… Ever again…" He gazes at her, delicately stroking her cheek with his hand._

_"I'm not hiding anything…" She innocently mouths with a smirk. He closes up to her. But a few inches away from her mouth, her hands on his shoulders, she stands up and goes back on the dance floor to finish the song. _


	17. Chapter 16

Chapter 16

After their diner, Sarah and Sam are at the Blake Auction Warehouse. Sarah is looking for the Telesca's file in her father's office. "Here…" She says, pulling out a thick blue folder from the drawer. "Do you have a specific item in minds?"

"The painting of that family, for example…" Sam answers, hoping she would not be too curious about it.

She goes through the dozens of pages. "You sure you want to purchase that?... I find it kinda creepy like…"

"Well, we don't know yet… But it sure is a nonconformist piece…" She hands him the requested documents. "Can I make some copies?"

"Yep… Next door, you have a copy machine…" She follows him. "So, to be sure… You just ask me out to access this information?"

He was taken off guard. "Heu… No, no… Of course not… I would have only asked for it… I really wanted to…"

"Okay, okay… My bad again… I don't want you to feel uncomfortable…" Her hands in front of her to show she was sorry. "Like I said, it's a long time since I… Dated a guy… I feel a bit…"

He approaches her. "I really had a good time tonight… One of the best in month, I assure you…"

"But?" She softly asks.

"But… In a day or two, we will be on the road again and I don't want to take advantage of you…"

"Huh… Huh…" She nods. "So, you got all what you wanted?" Showing the copies he had in one hand.

"Yes, thanks for that… I'm gonna check those and we'll see…" He hands over the originals for her to put back in the file.

"So, see you around?... Maybe?..." She smiles, opening the exit door for him.

"Yeah… Sure… I will… Hum… Good night, Sarah."

"Good night, Sam…"

Dean is helping Eli to come out of the taxi that brought them back to the motel. She is laughing for no reason. He hands some dollar bills through the passenger's open window. "Well, have a good night you too…" The driver says with a nasty grin on his face. Dean prefers not to comment on that.

She staggers away in the parking lot. Dean goes after her, taking her by the waist to support her. "Come here you partygoer… Our room is this way…"

"Are you going to take advantage of the situation, Mr. Terrible flirt?" She whispers, putting a finger on his mouth.

"Certainly not!... " He says a little too quickly.

"What?... I ain't good enough for you?" She is trying to take angry tone.

"And here we go again!..." He sighs, opening the room door. "Eli, it's late… We'll talk about this in the morning, okay?"

"So, that's it, huh… Not enough of that slutty type of yours… Yeah, yeah… I got it…" She continues, pushing him aside and enters the place. He rolls his eyes and enters too.

She shakes her feet to get rid of her shoes and goes for the fridge. "I'm starving…"

"Not a good idea… Come here… Better have some sleep first…" He says as softly as possible, taking her by the shoulders. She doesn't retort this time and let him guide her to bed. He just removes her jacket and lays her down. The minute her head touches the pillow, she was already asleep. He delicately removes a lock in front of her eyes and watches her sleep. "You're probably gonna hate me a bit more tomorrow morning for letting you drink that much… But, mind you, like you often say… I had fun tonight… We should do that again sometime… And, promise, I'll stop teasing you about your seriousness…" He softly smiles.

He goes for the bathroom and comes back with a tube of aspirin and a bottle of water. He places them on her night stand.

Sam is back at the motel. Dean is cleaning some guns, sitting on the couch.

The youngest puts on the table the folder he has in his hands. Gets rid of his jacket and notices Eli fully dressed in her bed, snoring softly. He turns to Dean. "What's with her?"

"A little bit too much fun!" Dean simply answers.

"Wha?..."

"How was your evening?" He asks with a smirk.

"Good…" Sam distractedly answers, going for some bottle of water in the fridge.

"So, she just handed the providences over to you, huh?"

"Provenances…" Sam rectifies again, sitting next to him.

The older slams the gun on the coffee table. "If one of you is correcting me once again with this, I'll…" He warns, not exactly knowing what he could really do about it.

"Okay…" Sam says slowly. Dean's looking at his brother for him to continue the story.

"So… We went back to the auction… And she handed me all she got about the painting…"

"And?"

"And nothing, Dean… I just left!" He says a bit edgy, taking out the papers from the folder and starts to read them.

"Well… When this case is finish, we could stick around for a bit… So, you can take Sarah out again." Dean proposes. "It's obvious you're into her…"

"And what did you guys do, tonight?... And mostly what did you do to her?" He stands up and takes their Dad's journal, eluding the last sentence.

"Me?... Nothing… She…"

"You made her drink?... Dean!"

"Oh please!… She's an adult… I didn't push her to do anything… Stop overprotecting her all the time!"

"I don't over… Pfff… Hey, I think I got something here." He suddenly says, handing his brother some papers.

"Portrait of Isaiah Merchant's family, 1910." The elder reads.

"Compare the names of the owners with Dad's journal."

"First purchase: 1912, Peter Simms… Same thing in 1945… And in 1970 too!" He checks.

"And this year, the Telescas!... So, what do you think?... Haunted or Cursed?"

"Either what… It's good enough for me… Let's burn the thing…" Dean decides.

"Think we can leave Eli here alone?"

"Don't worry… She's good till morning."

The boys are climbing the iron fence from Blake's Auction.

Sam dismantles the alarm. They both enter the warehouse, turning on their flashlights, looking for the painting.

They spot it on the first floor. With no other hesitation, Dean cuts it from the frame and both leave the place.

On an isolated country road, they fire up the canvas.

At the same moment, in the warehouse, as it goes along the painting comes back in his frame.


	18. Chapter 17

Chapter 17

In the morning, Eli wakes up with a terrible headache. "Oh my God!... I feel worse than after a fight…" She whinges.

Sam is handing her two aspirins from the tube and the bottle of water that was next her bed. "Here, swallow these and take a good warm shower… I'll take care of your stuff!"

"We're leaving already?"

"Yeah… We torched the painting last night… Case solved…"

She grabs some clean clothes from her duffel and goes for the bathroom.

The two brothers are loading the car when Eli finally emerges from the bathroom. She is rummaging in her shoulder's bag for her sunglasses.

"We got a problem… I can't find my wallet!" Dean says, searching through the room.

"When did you see it for the last time?" Eli asks, massaging her temples.

"I put it on the nightstand when we came back from the bar… Grab it back when Sam and I left for the Auction…" He recalls.

"You're sure?..."

"Yep… I must have lost it in that warehouse…"

"Dean!... You're kidding, right?" Sam raises his voice, making Eli wince.

"It's got my prints, my ID… Fake ID anyway…" He lists, putting on his jacket. "We gotta get it before somebody else's finds it…" Dean's already at the doorstep, urging the others to hurry up.

The Auction house is already open when they arrive.

"We split… Eli at the first floor… Sam takes the left side… I'll do the right…" Dean orders.

Sarah is walking by. "Hey… Sam…"

"Sarah… Hey!" He replies, a little bit caught by surprise.

"What are you doing here?"

"We… Hum… We are leaving town… And you know, I wanna say goodbye to you." Sam stammers.

Dean rejoins them. "Leaving town?... No, no… Not before a day or two, actually… Oh, now… Before I forget again… Here the 20 bucks I owe you from the other day… You remember?..." Sam makes kind of a surprised annoyed face. Dean shows his wallet… "So, this is settled… I'm gonna see what Eli's up to… You know, she can be so clumsy sometimes; it can cost you a fortune… " He finally leaves them alone.

"So?…" Sam says, dancing from one foot to the other.

"I had a great time last night…" She breaks the silence.

"Yeah… Yeah… I did too…"

"Maybe we should do it again sometime…"

"Sam?" Eli calls from upstairs… "Think you should come up to see this…"

"Yep, bro… You sure do…" Dean adds, leaning on the railings.

"Sarah, could you please excuse me for a minute?" The youngest apologises.

"Sure…" Sam makes three steps backwards and looks up at the first floor. He discovers the painting intact. "Oh my God!" He cries out loud enough to catch the woman's attention.

"What?..." She asks.

"The… That painting looks so… Good… There in that light…" He manages to say.

"That monstrosity?"

"Hum… What did you know about that painting exactly?" Sam requests.

"Not much… Like I told you yesterday, it's just creeping me out!"

"You think it could be sold again?" He anxiously asks.

"As much as my Dad wants to… No… I won't let him… I think it'll be in bad taste after what happened to that couple."

"Good… Yeah… Don't… Don't… Make sure you don't, okay?" Sam stutters, his gaze still on the first floor.

"Don't tell me you are really interested in that piece?" Sarah laughs.

"Hum… Yeah… No… Maybe…" Dean, back for the first floor, is giving him a slight knock on his side. "Yeah… Sorry, but I forgot that we had another appointment this morning… We really have to go… But, I will call you… Soon…" Sam is talking fast, already on its way to the exit.

Eli and Dean are already outside, waiting for Sam.

"About last night…" Eli starts hesitant. "I must have done terrible things… I'm not use to… Drink that much… Please, forget everything I've said and done…"

"Hum… I don't know… It was… Wouf!… You know… Kinda heavy…" He jokes.

"Dean… Please… Try to erase that from your memory… And don't tell Sam… Please…" She pleads.

Dean just smirks at her, when Sam arrives.

"I thought you had torched the damned thing?" She asks the youngest to avoid the other one to continue their conversation.

"We did!" He answers briskly.

"Well… It didn't work, so we need to find another way to get rid of it… Any ideas, Wisenoze?" Dean dares Eli when they are all in the car.

"In almost all the lore about haunted paintings, it's always the painted subject that haunts them." Sam explains.

"So… Research on the creepy-ass family, in that creepy-ass painting… Eli, think you can manage that today?... Don't want to worsen that headache of yours…" Dean jests and winks at her.

"What was the name again?" She asks Sam, ignoring the other one.

"The Isaiah Merchant Family."

She's dropped by the brothers in front of the local library. A bald old man welcomes her with a soft smile.

"Good morning, Sir… My name is Eli Connors, from Connors Limited… My brothers and I are interested in a painting from a local family that we saw for sale at Blake's Auction… And I would like to have some history facts about this family… You know, to see if we can make a story around it, for our showroom back home…" She smiles gently.

"I'll see what I can find… What's the name of that family you looking for?" The old man smiles back.

"Merchant… Family Isaiah Merchant… They probably lived around beginning of the Twentieth Century…"

"Let me check what I can find on this computer…" He starts to type on the keyboard. "There it is…Yes, we have something in our local newspapers archives… Give me a few minutes to bring you those files… Please, have a seat on that table over there… I'll be right back…" He invites her to make herself comfortable.

"Thank you…" She takes her laptop out from her shoulder bag.


	19. Chapter 18

Chapter 18

At the library, the old man comes back, his arms carrying a large dusty folder and some books. Eli meets him half way and helps him to put everything down on the table.

"I dug up everything of local history I could find, since they are no files by names." He explains. "Do you want me to help you finding what you need?"

"Oh, that would be wonderful, yes…" She largely smiles. While she leaves through one of the books, the old man is going through the local newspapers.

"Huh huh…" He suddenly comes. "Quiet of a family actually… I think you can write your paper as a criminal investigation story…"

"Really?... Why?..." She asks intrigued.

"Well, look at this…" He raises an old front-page, dated 16 April 1912, pointing at an article entitled 'Father slaughters family, kills self.'

"Interesting!… So, the whole family was killed?"

He flips the page for him to read. "It seems this Isaiah slits his kid's throats, then his wife's, then himself… He was a barber and used a straight razor… People said about him that he had a stern and harsh temperament… He controlled his family with an iron fist – A wife, two sons and an adopted daughter." He resumes.

"Okay, you can be a rude man… But, killing your entire family?" She wonders. The man makes a hand movement for her to wait the rest of the story. He puts his glasses on the tip of his nose and continues to read from the page.

"Oh yes here… There were whispers that the wife was going to take the kids and leave… Which of course, in those times, was not a common thing to happen…"

"Even… That's brutal!... Do they say where they were buried?"

"In fact… They were cremated…"

"Really?... Darn!" She involuntary says out loud.

"Why?..."

"No… No… Nothing… Did you have other info about them?"

"In this book…" He picks up a brown covered one in the pile. "There is a picture of that family…" He shows it to her. It was a reproduction of the painting, but with some slightly differences. Eli takes the book from the old man's hands and looks at the legend on the bottom of the page. "Merchant Family – 1912 – Only known existing painting."

She is staring at it for a moment. "Would it be possible to have a copy of it, please?"

"Sure… The copy machine is right behind you…"

"Thank you so much… Your help was really precious, Sir… Think I'm gonna be fine now… Just gonna check some little details for my paper…" She puts with an honest smile.

"Take your time, Dear… When you've finished, just leave everything on the table… I'll put it away later…" He leaves her alone and returns behind his desk.

.

In the meantime, at the Blake's Auction, Sarah catches her father and two employees busy to pack the Merchant painting.

"Dad, you promised me…"

"I know, Sweetie… But Evelyn offered a persuasive amount of money for it."

She inconspicuously looks at the wooden crate for an address.

.

Later that day, Eli shows the brothers the copy of the painting she had found at the library. "Anything interesting catching your eye?" She asks maliciously.

Sam is checking it out thoughtfully. "Wait!... In the painting, the father is looking down, no?…" He claims.

"Exactly!"

"Could it be that more than one was made?" Dean asks.

"I knew you would ask that… This is the original only official painting of the Isaiah Merchant Family." She proudly says.

"So, if the painting has changed, means that Daddy dearest is trapped in it and giving a shave at anyone that owns it." Dean concludes.

"Seems like it." Sam replies.

"There is something I don't understand…" Eli frowns. "The bodies of the whole family were burned into dust, right?… And, you already tried to torch the painting… But, it came back… How is this possible?... Did you already experience something like this?"

"No, never… Normally if the person is cremated, the spirit cannot raise… So, must be something else with that painting… If Isaiah's position changed, maybe other details in the painting must have changed too… We need to go back to the Auction and compare it with the copy…" Dean says standing from his seat. "And that is a good thing, so Sammy can have some more time with his new girlfriend." He smirks at him.

"Dude… Enough already!… Ever since we arrived here, you're trying to pimp me out to Sarah…"

"So… You're really like her, then…" Dean maliciously says.

"Just back off, all right?" Sam bursts.

"Sam… Dean is somewhere not in the wrong here… He just doesn't have the right approach over it… Not to speak about the wording he uses…" Dean is giving her a questioning look. "What he is trying to say is that you meeting Sarah is… It could be a good thing for you… You know, socializing again… After Jessica and all… I know how it feels loosing someone you truly love… And how it's hard to recover, reconnect… But, now… Don't you think that what that person would like is to see you happy again… They are gone and they leave an empty hole in our life… I mean, you don't have to hide in it till death is coming to get you… You know…" She softly explains, recalling some dark hours of her own story.

"Eli?... Who did you lose?" Sam asks her gently. She suddenly wakes up from her memories and claps against her thighs as she stands up.

"That will be for later… For now, you should call her, Sarah I mean… Since we have to see that painting anyways…" He's keeping an insisting look at her. "I promise… I'll tell you everything when we're done here…" She turns her face to Dean, also trying to puzzle out what could have happen to her to talk like that. "To both of you…"

.

Sam grabs his phone and goes outside of the room to make his call. He comes back only a few second later, going for a pen and a paper on the little table. "To who you'd said you sold it?" Eli and Dean are raising their heads to him. "Sarah, I need an address right now." He says seriously.

.

In an isolated house, a log is cracking by the flames in the fireplace. A lady, sitting in a comfortable old armchair, is reading a book. You can hear the calming tick-tock of a clock in the room.

Suddenly, Isaiah's face in the painting starts to move again. The lady is closing her book, putting her glasses on the coffee table and empties her cup of tea. She hears some ruffling behind her. She slowly lifts her head and starts to scream.


	20. Chapter 19

Chapter 19

The Impala brakes behind Sarah's Jeep at the Evelyn's address. The young woman is already waiting in front of the house. "Sam, what's happening?" She asks him as he was coming out of the car.

"I told you not to come!" He answers a little briskly.

The four of them are rushing up the porch's stairs. Dean heavily knocks on the wooden door.

"You said Evelyn might be in danger?... What danger?" Sarah inquires. Sam looks at her, but does not give any explanation. No sounds are coming from the house; Dean is taking his small tools out of one of the pockets of his jacket and starts to pick the lock. "What are you? Burglars?" She continues.

"I wish it was that simple… You really should wait in your car… For you own safety…" Sam finally answers.

Dean and Eli enter the place, followed by Sam and Sarah. "Evelyn is a friend." She pleads when Sam is trying to stop her.

They are going for the main room, calling for the lady. They see her sitting in the chair.

"Evelyn?" Sarah asks softly. No response. Eli and Dean are looking at the painting. Sarah holds her hand out to Evelyn. "It's Sarah Blake… Are you all right?"

"Sarah… Don't…" Sam shouts out.

Too late! As she touches the lady's shoulder; her half cut head falls backwards. Sarah lets out a piercing scream. "Oh my God!... Oh my God!..." The youngest takes her in his arms and moves her away.

Dean and Eli's eyes are on the painting again, Isaiah's looking straight in front of him.

.

Back at the motel, the trio hears soft knocks on their door. It's Sarah.

"Hey… You all right?" Sam asks anxiously.

"No, actually… I just lied to the cops and told them I went to Evelyn's… Alone… And found her like that." She freaks out. "But, I'm about to call them right back if you don't tell me what the hell's going on!… Who's killing these people?" She continues in a menacing tone. The threesome looks at each other to determine who is going to tell the whole story.

"What!" Sam finally whispers.

"What?" Sarah questions.

"It's not 'who'… It's 'what' is killing?... Sarah, you saw that painting move, right?" Eli softly comes. "I saw you were looking at it when it happened."

"No, it's impossible... It can't be…"

"Yeah well, welcome to our world." Dean smirks.

"Sarah, I know this sounds crazy… But, we think that that painting is haunted." Sam continues.

"You're joking!" She tries to laugh. The trio, still looking at her, keeps quiet. "You're not joking!" She lets herself drop on one of the beds.

"Think about it!... Evelyn, the Telescas, both had the painting… And there've been others before… Wherever this thing goes, people die… And we're just trying to stop it." Eli sits next to her, trying to comfort her a bit.

"OK… Show me how you're doing this… I'm coming with you…" Sarah declares suddenly.

"What?... No, Sarah, no… You should just go home…" Sam retorts, holding out his hand to her. "This stuff can get dangerous… And I don't want you to get hurt."

"Maybe, but me and my dad sold this painting and I feel now responsible for those killings… I'm not saying I'm not scared… Because I'm absolutely terrified… But, I'm not the 'run and hide' type… So, let's do this!" She firmly says, standing up.

.

Sun is rising as they are all back at Evelyn's house. It's now Sam's turn to pick the lock.

"Isn't this a crime scene?" Sarah asks a little worried.

"Well, you already lied to the cops… This is another offence in your book…" Dean smirks.

Inside the room, Sam is taking the painting down from the wall and looks at it in great details. Eli approaches too and does the same with the paper copy in her hands.

"Are you not worried it's gonna kill us?" Sarah asks.

"No… It seems to do its thing at night… I think we're all right in daylight." Sam answers.

"Look at the razor… It's closed in our copy and open in the painting." Eli points out.

"What the… And look at the painting in the painting…" Sam continues.

"Resembles to a crypt or a mausoleum… There is an inscription above the door, but I cannot read it…" Eli details.

"You should check those eyes of yours, Sweetie…" Dean takes a crystal ashtray on the coffee table and uses it as a magnifying glass. "Merchant… It must be there their remaining are."

.

"So, this is what you do for a living?" Sarah asks Sam, while walking in the third cemetery they visit.

"Not exactly… We don't get paid…" He answers, smiling.

"Well… Mazel Tov…" She jokes.

"There it is…" Dean points to it in a distance.

.

He forces the door with a pair of pliers he brought with him and they all enter the mausoleum.

On the right side, each member of the Merchant family has a bronze plate with their epitaph and on the opposite wall are little recesses with an object each of them favoured, protected by a glass sealed window.

Sarah approaches the one containing an old doll. "This is the creepiest thing I ever saw in my entire life." She twitches.

"It was a sort of tradition at that time… Whenever a child dies, they preserved the kid's favourite toy." Sam explains.

"Don't you note anything unusual here, Guys?" Eli wonders. "Look… There are only 4 plates." She summarily dusts them one by one. "We have Mom… Boy number 1… Boy number 2… And daughter… So, where is daddy dearest?"

"I'll be damned…" Dean whispers…


	21. Chapter 20

Chapter 20

Sarah and Sam are sitting outside on a low wall. "What are your brother and sister exactly looking for in this building?" She asks him.

"Speaking of… Sarah, there is a little something I need to confess…" Sam slowly comes.

"What now?..." She looks suddenly worried, expecting another weird revelation from him.

"Dean is my brother… But, Eli is not really my sister…"

"Oh… And who is she then?..."

"A friend…" He just explains her.

"Okay… So, what are they looking for?..."

"Searching through the County death certificates, trying to find where the father is?"

"And how will they manage to get that kind of information?... It's an official premise, not for public…"

"Lies, subterfuges and some boldness…" Sam smiles.

"Sam… Can I ask you something else?" She continues, after having a quick look at the glass entry door to be sure they were not coming back yet.

"Yeah, sure…"

"I don't want sounding too much coming forward, but is there something here between us? Or am I delusional?" She shyly looks down.

Sam suddenly takes a serious look. "You're not delusional!... But…" He sighs. "I don't think this would be a good idea."

"Can I ask why?"

"Cause I like you…"

"Excuse-me?"

"It's hard to explain… It's just when people are around me… I don't know… They get hurt… I mean… Physically hurt…"

"But, Dean and Eli are around you…"

"It's not the same… We are doing the same job… Sarah… I had a girlfriend… And she died… My mom died too… It's like I'm cursed or something… Death just following me around…"

"So, you think that if you let yourself have feelings for anybody… You're scared they'd get hurt too… This is very sweet, Sam!... A little old fashioned, but sweet!... You know, I'm a big girl and I can make my own decisions… Tomorrow I can get hit by a bus… That's what life is… Life and death… And nobody knows when their time comes… So, I decided to live everything through… With the pains and joys that go with it."

.

At the entrance of the building, Dean and Eli are finally coming out. She sees the two others talking on the low wall. "Dean, wait… Let they have a moment." She says, taking him by the sleeve.

"Why?... Come on, we have no time for that right now… We will give them all the space they need when we get rid of that thing…" He walks towards them.

"Dean!... You!..." She grumbles, but he starts to whistle a tune from a distance to make them notices their presence.

"So, what did you find?" Sam asks.

"Well, here's the story… The surviving relatives of the Merchant family were so ashamed of Isaiah; they didn't want him with his wife and kids… So, they handed him over to the county, which gave him the minimal funeral… Turns out he wasn't cremated, but buried!" Dean shows the copy of the paper they got from the officials.

"We have some bones to burn, after all!" Eli finishes.

"You know where?" Eli and Dean smirk at each other over so less faith coming from the youngest.

.

Midnight, in a graveyard, the two brothers are digging a tomb while the two women are holding flashlights. Sarah is not feeling very at ease. "You guys seem to be uncomfortably comfortable with this." She expresses to Eli.

"Well, let say it's not the first grave they've dug." She replies as casually as possible.

"You sure have a fun life with those two!"

"Entertaining would be a better word…" She gently laughs.

Dean's shovel suddenly hits the coffin. Sam goes out of the hole. Eli and Sarah approaches to light it up. The elder pierces the cover to reveal Isaiah's skeleton. He drags himself out too, sprays salt and gasoline over it, lights some matches and throws them in the coffin.

.

Dean is driving back to Evelyn's house. "I thought we had finished with this?" Sarah asks, as the car stops on the front porch.

"Better safe than sorry… I prefer also burn that painting…" Sam replies

"I'll go with you…" Already opening the car door.

"You're sure?"

She steps out. "Yep…"

When Dean wants to exit too, Eli puts a hand on his shoulder, bringing him back to sit. "We are going to stay here, while you both go get the painting…" Eli softly smiles to Sam and giving a side look to Dean.

"Oh…" He whispers, suddenly catching it.

.

Sam and Sarah enter the house and when they arrive in front of the painting they freeze.

"Sam, you're the expert on all this ghost stuff… Is that painting supposes to look like that now?... Where is the little girl?" She asks him anxiously.

"And the razor?..." He adds.

They hear the echo of a little laughter and wind blowing around them. The front door suddenly slams shut, making them both jump in surprise. Dean rushes out of the car and up the stairs. He tries to open the door, but it seems blocked. "Sam!..." He yells.

"Dean?... Dean?..." Sam screams from the other side, but the sound deadens by the thickness of it. He takes his phone and calls his brother. "It's the little girl!..."

"Girl?... What girl?..."

"She's out of the painting…"

"What?... So, that's maybe why the father was looking at her… He was trying to warn us…"

Eli notices that Dean is still trying to force the door and goes out of the car. "Stay in the car!..." He commands her.

"What's wrong?..." She asks.

"Dean?.. Get us out of here, please?..." Sam pleads still on the phone.

"I'm trying… But it seems the lock is melted in… I can't even put my hook in there!..."

"Well… Break it down, then!"

"Yeah, sure!... Oh, wait… I forgot my battering ram home, genius!" Dean says ironically.

"Dean!... That damn thing is coming, man!..." Sam panics more and more.

"Guess you will have to hold it up until I figure something… Get salt and iron…"

Sam grabs Sarah by the hand and they withdraw to the main room. They search through all the drawers. He runs to the kitchen, but comes back empty handed. "What kind of person does not have any salt?..."

"Dean?... What can I do?..." Eli says worried.

"Stay in the car, ready to fly!…" Dean tells her, making the round of the house to find another way in. But, everything seems to be sealed.

Suddenly in the house, the sliding doors between the hallway, the kitchen and the main room are slamming too. The shutters of all the windows close, keeping Dean from breaking one of them. A swirling wind takes over the main room, papers blowing everywhere. The little girl approaches, dragging behind her the doll by a foot and holding the razor in her other hand. Sam and Sarah are backing up near the fireplace. He hits the rack with iron tools. He takes one of the firebrands and swings it through the little girl. She disappears and the wind suddenly stops.

"Iron?" Sarah asks, out of breath.

"Yeah!..."

"Sammy?... Sammy?... Are you okay?... Answer me!..." A metallic voice comes out from Sam's pocket.


	22. Chapter 21

Chapter 21

"Sammy?... Sammy?... Are you okay?... Answer me!..." A metallic voice comes out from Sam's pocket.

He grabs his phone. "Yeah! For now… But, she will be back for sure…" He calmly says.

"How are we gonna waste her?… She's already cremated…" Dean still a little in panic.

"Sam, wait…" Sarah comes. "We used to handle antique dolls at the Auction… And as you mentioned earlier, back then, they had of those traditions, like make them as their kid's image… They would use their real hair… " She explains.

"Dean, did you hear that?... Hair are also human remains, right?..."

"OK… Well, try to hold it again till we're making it to the mausoleum!" Dean returns to the car, engine already roaring. He makes a sign to Eli to move aside, hands her over the phone and goes hurtling off.

In the house, the lights are flickering and the winds starts to blow again. Sam latches on the iron brand, ready for another swing. A desk crosses the room and hits Sam, making him drop his weapon. Sarah rushes to help him to get from behind it. She pulls it with all her forces, but it's not moving an inch. She turns around and falls face to face with the little girl.

.

Dean brakes just in front of the crypt, both are rushing through the doors. In front of the box where the doll is, he takes his gun by the barrel and starts to hit the glass window, several times. Delicately, Eli takes the gun out of his hand and turns it to show him it can be more efficient to shoot the glass instead. He rolls his eyes on his own stupidity and fires.

.

At the house, it's now Sarah's turn to violently hitting the wall. Sam is still stuck behind the desk.

.

Dean garbs the doll from its box and look frantically for his lighter in his pocket. Eli offers him hers. He nervously tries to light it.

.

Sarah sees the little girl's approaching very slowly towards her, the razor ready to cut her throat.

.

Eli grabs the lighter from Dean's hands and finally got a flame coming out of it.

.

The little girl is now at striking distance. She lifts her arm. Sam pushes with all his hart against the desk, trying to come loose.

.

Eli fires the doll's hair, which fortunately takes very quickly. Dean is checking that the whole head is torched before dropping it to the floor.

.

Sarah closes her eyes, waiting for the deathblow. The spirit slowly loses its power; Sam can finally free himself from his trap and jumps on Sarah to protect her. As she brings down her armed hand, she disappears into smoke and reappears instantly in the painting.

.

Dean calls his brother again. "Are you Guys okay?" He asks anxiously.

"Yeah… Yeah… Was close, but… Yeah!..." Sam answers out of breath.

He and Sarah let themselves sliding down the wall, sighing heavily.

.

Dean catches Eli's arm as she was already returning to the car and hugs her. "Thanks…" He murmurs.

"For?..."

"I have to admit that I lost it a little bit in there… Without you, that would have cost Sam's or Sarah's life…"

"Dean… I know you have some problems with me being around and all…" She softly says.

"No, not anymore… I swear…" He cuts, taking her back in his arms.

.

The next day, they are all at Blake's Auction, looking at the two employees putting again the painting in a wooden crate.

"After some deeper research in the County records… Little girl, Melanie, was adopted by the Merchants since her real parents were killed in their beds." Eli explains to the others.

"You think she could have killed them?" Sarah asks.

"There is, of course, no info on that… But, we may assume she did and did it again with the Merchants… Isaiah took the blame for it and his spirit was trying to warn people even since…"

"What are we doing with this, Miss Blake?" One of the workers requests when the box is closed.

"Take it outside in the back and burn it!" She orders. He freezes, waiting for confirmation. "Seriously, out and destroy it! Thanks…"

"Well, think we're done here… So, I guess we're get going…" Dean gently says.

"You're leaving?" Sarah looks at Sam. Dean is staring at them again, enough for Eli to give him another nudge in his ribs. She makes a move with her head to make him understand that it's time to let them alone.

"We will wait in the car… Take your time, Sam…" She smiles. "Sarah, see you around some day…" The two women hug each other. "Hopefully without any supernatural around!"

"Okay… Thanks for everything, Eli…"

Dean does not seem to move, so she takes him by the sleeve. "Yeah well… See you, Sarah!" He says as he's been dragged away.

"Bye, Dean…" She laughs.

.

"You have to stop with that punching in my ribs thing… When you have something to say to me, just voice it!"

"And you should read 'Manners for Dummies' or something!..." She retorts in a laugh.

He shrugs and enters his car. She sits next to him, looking through the window.

"Would do another lap dance for me one day?" He maliciously asks her.

She briskly turns her head to face him. "If you ever tell any of this to Sam, I'll break every single one of your fingers, one by one, nice and slowly!"

He bursts into laughter. "Hey… I was just kidding… This will stay between us… Promise."

"Hum… Better be…"

.

"I would have come with a great line about 'goodbyes are not forever or something', but I'm afraid I won't be able to hold my tears…" Sarah sadly says.

"I'm going to miss you too, Sarah…" Sam replies smiling.

"Hey… You've noticed?... I'm still in one piece!... I wasn't hurt or anything!..."

"Yeah!... I'm glad for that…"

"So, maybe you're not cursed after all…" She approaches him. "And so maybe you'll come back and visit me…" She whispers.

"I will…" Sam is making the last step that was between them. They are taking each other in their arms.

.

Sam exits the Auction; Sarah stays at the front door. He waves goodbye and she closes the door.

Eli changes seat and goes in the back of the car when Sam arrives. He suddenly stops and turns back.

He knocks at the entrance door. Sarah directly opens. He surrounds her face with both hands and kisses her deep.

Eli gives Dean a slap behind his head. "Stop lurking!"

"You're just jealous you don't get any of this!" He grins. She shrugs and sits back, arms crossed over her chest.


	23. Chapter 22

From here, even if you will find the main storylines of the episodes, you will see some slight differences, detours and adaptations. I finally start to fit Eli's background story from here. It's time to know a little bit more about her, don't you think?

Chapter 22

In a roadhouse they found on their way, the trio finishes their diner. Dean orders a new round of beers.

"If you're up to it… I'll tell you my story of that person I lost…" Eli shyly starts.

"Only if you want this too, Eli… We have no desire to force enter your private life if you're not comfortable with it…" Sam softly answers.

"Well, I sort of promised to Dean to work on the sharing part… So…" She smiles to the elder. "Ahum… So, I was a sophomore in that new high school… And I met… There was this guy, Owen… I felt in love with… We really were all the time together… Had a lot in common… Shared everything… During that period, all seemed to be so normal in my life, you know… A year, five month and 12 days… And then… Everything felt apart…" Tears were slowly forming into her eyes. "That Wednesday… He didn't come to school… I was kinda worried, because he always warned me when he played hooky… So, I went to his house…" She coughs to clear her throat. "And… I found him… Hanged in his room…" She tries to hide the tears by looking at her lap. Sam is gently pressing her hand in his. "The police concluded to a suicide… It was hard for me to believe it… Why would he have done a thing like that?... He had no problems with his parents… No problems at school, good grades… He had even plans for the future… We had plans…" She looks up to the ceiling, trying not to start crying.

"You think that a something killed him?" Dean asks, tender-hearted.

"I'm practically sure there was no human involve in this… He had sort of burning marks on his left arm… I can recognize the signs… The house was locked; there were no evidence of forced entry… No signs of struggle… Not even a chair around him… How could he have climb up there?... And then, I found traces of sulphur near the window…"

"No doubt possible… And the police, didn't they notice all those weird details?" Sam questions.

"Sure… But, since they could not find any explanation for it… And his parents wanted to have funerals done as quickly as possible… They just closed the case."

"Did you ever found the demon that did it?"

"Not really… And I have no clue why something wanted to attack Owen… So, I'm just hoping that in the amount we exterminate, it could be one of them… At least, it helps to believing in it… To continue with my life…"

"That's why you became a hunter?" Dean comes.

"I already knew about demons and all, since my dad… Well… Whatever… But yes, I really started to make my own researches and hunts after Owen's death…"

"The next sonuvabitch I get my hands on, I'm gonna tear him into pieces, nice and slow!" Dean mumbles in an angry tone.

.

Two week later in Manning, Colorado. A man is going through some notes in his journal.

"Mr. Elkins? Would you like another drink?" The bartender gently asks, holding a bottle of whiskey in her hands.

"Yes… Thanks, Beth." He says distractedly, still in his reading and writing.

"Though they caught the Unabomber?" A customer, at the other end of the counter, comments.

"Poor Mr. Elkins, living all alone up the canyon… Same seat every day… Going through his papers, making his little notes… He's a nice old nut!" Beth explains him with a smile.

The bar door slams open, making Elkins's head finally raise from his journal. A woman and three men enter the place, looking all around. The old man suddenly looks afraid. They sit around a table.

"What will you have?" Beth asks from the corner of the counter.

"Bottle of Jack!" The all leather dressed woman answers.

"You hungry?"

"We already have diner plans." She grins.

"Okay… Bottle of Jack coming right up!" The bartender kneels to grab a bottle in her cabinet. "You need anything else, Mr. Elkins?" As no answer comes, she raises to discover an empty chair. Mr. Elkins was gone.

.

An old rusty pickup truck goes up a snowy path to a wooden house and stops in front of it. Elkins hurries up to enter his home, double locking the door.

In his living-room, he gets rid of his jacket and puts his journal on the corner of a cabinet. He suddenly raises his head. Behind him, stands the leather dressed woman. "It's been a while… I got to say, you've aged…" She softly says.

"What do you want?" He asks with an exhausted voice. He makes a side step and unexpectedly throws a knife at her. It enters as butter in her chest.

"Damn!" She simply comments, removing it from her body.

Elkins escapes and locks himself up in his office, pushing a bookcase in front of the door. He, then, goes to the opposite wall, removes a painting from it and enters the combination of the safe hidden behind. He hears the woman giving heavy punches against the door. He takes a wooden box out of the little vault, puts it in front of him on his desk. He opens it and looks at an engraved old Colt and a few shiny bullets. He grabs the gun and nervously loads the six shoot's cylinder. The bookcase falls on the floor and the door slams open. At the same time, two men are coming through the glass window on the ceiling. They tackle Elkins, who drops the Colt. The woman picks it up. "Nice gun… Boys? We're eating in tonight!" She says with an evil smile on her face. The last noise coming out of the wooden house is Elkins scream.

.

In another Dinner, Dean is reading a newspaper while Sam and Eli have their nose in their laptop.

"Think I found something on one of the alert websites. A certain Elkins, well known hunter, has been killed." The youngest reads out loud.

"You said Elkins?..." Eli jumps a bit.

"You knew him?" Sam asks looking at her. She suddenly seems disturbed. "Hey… What's wrong?"

Dean lowers his newspaper to see what was going on.

"Hum… He… Elkins… What happened to him, exactly?" She tries to recompose herself.

"It's only a short message… Daniel Elkins was found mauled in his home… Eli, talk to me…"

"Your father knows him… He mentions him somewhere in his journal…" She says, still pretty shaken up. "Will you please excuse me for a minute… I need to go to the bathroom."

"Eli?... Wait…"

"Think we should check this out, Sam?… If that Elkins guy was a hunter, I'm practically sure his death has something to do with 'weird'…" Dean comments.

.

Once safe from the brother's ears and sight, Eli takes her cell phone and leaves a message on a voicemail.


	24. Chapter 23

Chapter 23

Sam picks Elkins's door lock. The two brothers switch on their flashlights and start to inspect the house, while Eli stays on the doorstep. Sam turns around. "You come?"

"I prefer stay here to watch if anything moves outside…" She explains, by way of an excuse.

"As you wish…" He enters the house. Everything inside is turned upside-down. "Hey… Found some salt on the floor…" He yells at Dean as he kneels.

"Like 'protect me from the Demon' salt or 'Oops, I spilled the pop-corn' salt?" The elder asks, discovering Elkins's personal journal.

"It's clearly shaped in a ring…" He answers.

"Found his journal… Looks like Dad's…" They continue their inspection to Elkin's office.

"Whatever attacked him, it was definitively more than one!" Sam concludes by the state they find the room.

Dean's foot knocks against something. He turns his flashlight down and discovers an empty wooden box. It seems to have held a gun, since he could see the carved bullet shaped forms in it. He makes another step forward and notices some deep scratches and some blood drops on the floor. He bends down. "Got something?" Dean takes a sheet of paper and a pencil. He puts it down, covering the blood and starts to scrabble all over the marks.

"Looks familiar?" He asks Sam.

"Three letters and six digits… Location and combination of a PO Box… It's a mail drop…" He answers.

"Same way Dad's doing it…"

.

At the post office, they easily find the mail box. Dean puts in the combination. There just one envelope addressed to a certain J.W.

Back in the car, they hesitate to open it. Suddenly, three soft knocks on Dean's window. Eli literally flies out of the vehicle and jumps in the arms of the man standing there.

"John!" She joyfully screams out.

"Hey… Hey… Easy on me, Angel!" He smiles.

"Dad?" The two brothers say in unison.

"Come, let's go inside" The father softly pushes Eli away from him.

"What are you doing here?... Are you all right?" Sam asks a little worried.

"Yeah, I'm OK… I know about Daniel… I got here as fast as I could… You already went to his place, huh?"

"You were there?... Why didn't you join us?"

"You know why, Sammy… I had to make sure you weren't followed by anyone or anything."

"So, you came all the way for this Elkins guy?" Sam continuing his questioning.

"Partially…" He gives a quick look at Eli. "He was a good man and taught me a lot about hunting… I hadn't seen him for a while now… I think I should look at that" John says, pointing at the envelop Dean still has in his hand. He opens it and starts to read silently. "Son of a bitch!… He had it the whole time…"

"What?" The elder asks.

"When you searched the place, did you see a gun?... An antique, a Colt revolver?..."

"There was an old case, but it was empty…" Dean replies.

"Damned… They have it!"

"Who has it?" Sam comes.

"We have to pick up the trail… Eli, you need to get away from here…"

"No!…" She briskly answers.

"Angel… It's too dangerous for you to stay…"

"You know that it's probably already too late for that…"

"Yeah!... OK, you come with me then…" John orders. They both leave the car.

Sam follows them. "Dad, please what's happening?... Can we at least have some explanations, here?"

Dean is also coming out of the car. "We have to find that Colt!" His father just states.

"Why?" The youngest insists.

"Because, it's important… That's why!"

"We still don't know what we are dealing with here, Dad…" John turns to Eli.

"Vampires…" She whispers.

"Vampires?... You must be kidding me!… I thought there were no such things." Dean says a concerned look on his face.

"Yep, they're out there… But, at level of extinction… They keep quiet so we stopped to hunt them… First step, we have to find their nest…" John briefly explains.

"Their nest?"

"Yes… Boys, go back in the car now and find us a decent motel, will you…"

John and Eli are following in his pickup truck.

.

"Vampires… Forget everything TV and books have ever said about them… A crucifix won't repel them… Sunlight won't kill them… Neither a stick to their hart… The blood lust part is true… They, of course, prefer human blood. But they can survive with animal blood… They were once people… So, you won't know it's a Vampire until it's too late…" John explains to his sons, once comfortably installed in their large motel room.

Eli is rummaging in her duffle, absent. Dean looks at here, more and more concerned about her behaviour since the beginning of this mission. He goes near her. "Are you okay?" He softly asks.

"Yeah… Yeah… Fine…" She answers without turning her head to him.

"You would tell me if something was wrong, right?..." He insists.

"Sure… I'm just tired… All that emotions today…" She lies.

"You guys have some sleep now… I will stay up to listen to the police channel…" John says.

.

It's the middle of the night; Sam and Dean are fast asleep. The only sounds around are the ones coming out of the walkie-talkie John is holding in his hand and the soft talk he has with Eli.

"Howza going with my boys?"

"Great!... Really… They are really nice with me…"

"Yeah, I thought I notice that…" He softly smiles.

"What?... How?... You just arrived…" She jokes also smiling.

"Unit 22, please confirm… Mile marker 41, abandoned car… You need backup?..." A female voice comes suddenly out of the radio.

"Confirmed! Possible 207… Better get forensics out here…" A police officer answers.

John puts the walkie-talkie down on the table and takes his jacket. "Sam… Dean… Let's go…" He shakes his boy's legs. "Got a police call… A couple calls 911 for a body on the street… When police arrived, all were missing… It's the vampires." He explains as soon as they are awake.

"What are we doing now?" Sam asks.

"Just follow us, okay?"

"Us?" The youngest slightly raising his voice. But, John and Eli are already near the pickup.

"Vampires… Gets funnier every time I hear it!" Dean mumbles a little cynical.


	25. Chapter 24

Chapter 24

The sun is just up when they arrive on the police call reported place. The Sheriff's department has already surrounded the road portion. John goes alone to talk to them.

When he returns, Sam asks what he got.

"It was them, all right! Looks like they're heading west. Too bad we have to circle this detour." He explains.

"How can you be so sure?"

"Because, I found this on the road." He shows him a little white object.

"Is that a vampire fang?" Dean looks at it, fascinating.

"No fangs… Teeth… A second set descends when they attack… Let's go. We better find them before dark."

.

John's pickup and Dean's Impala, driven by Sam, are rushing on the road.

"Vampires nest in groups of 8 to 10… Victims are taken to the nest as food… Bleeding them for days or weeks before finishing them… Wonder if that's what happened to that couple…" Dean reads from their dad's journal.

"I really start to have enough of all this…" Sam explodes.

"Enough of what?" His brother raises his head from the book.

"Enough of Dad barking orders at us constantly… Enough of not getting any information out of him… Enough of following him around with no other discussions…"

"Waouw… Waouw… Easy tiger!... You know how this goes… It's not him, but our job that requests that type of behaviour… You know, sharp, fast and accurate…" Dean's trying to calm him down.

"Isn't this absolutely extraordinary that he's just showing up like that and directly taking the reins?... We're not kids anymore, Dean!..."

"True… But, please don't start to fight with him again… Let us finish this job and then, I'm sure he will answer all your questions."

"And what's wrong with Eli, huh?"

"Yeah, I noticed… But, you know her, right?... She will tell us when she feels it."

"Oh, perfect… Why so protective over her suddenly?"

"You stop right there, man… Don't turn your anger on me, okay?"

.

In an abandoned barn, vampires are having a party, drinking beer, women dancing in a sexy way on a soft rock tune.

The missing couple is tied up on a pillar. One of the vampires holds his bottle out to the young man. "It'll calm your nerves, buddy."

"No, thanks…" He answers, not daring looking up.

The villain turns to the young woman, presenting her the bottle. She accepts the drink, but spits it in his face. The vampire wants to slap her. "Bo… Wait for Luther!" The woman in leather's voice comes from behind him. He lowers his arm and returns with some others of his kind.

The entrance door suddenly flies open to let a tall blue eyed all dressed in black man coming in. The vampire woman goes for him. "Luther… We've got presents for you." She softly says. He approaches the two new victims the others kidnapped.

"She looks interesting…" He gently brushes a hand on her cheek, smiling. "You well know my taste for red-haired, Kate!" He looks at the young guy. "He doesn't… Go ahead and treat yourself." He says around. Immediately, four vampires jump on the already screaming lad and start to feed on him.

"There is something else…" Kate says lovingly. She takes him by the hand and leads him toward a wooden table. There is some money and jewellery scattered on it.

"It's all theirs?" He asks.

"No… It's from an old friend of yours… Daniel Elkins!" She proudly explains.

"Kate, what did you do?"

"I made him suffer!"

"You shouldn't have done that!... There are others like him… I don't give them 24 hours before getting around here to hunt us!..." He angrily explains.

"But, I did it for you… After all you told me…" She pleads.

"Revenge isn't much worth if we end up dead!"

"I'm sorry… I thought…"

"Was this also at Elkins's house?" He asks, grabbing the Colt.

"Yes… Looks like it was made around the time you were born, so I thought you'd like it…"

"I've seen this before… This is no ordinary gun…" Luther's trying to remember.

"Elkins died, holding it…"

.

"OK… Will do…" Dean closes his phone. "Pull of the next exit…" He says to Sam.

"Why?"

"Dad thinks we've got the vampire's trail."

"How?"

"He didn't say…" Sam brutally accelerates, overtakes their Dad's truck and brakes across the road to make him stop. He rushes out of the car, so does John.

"What the hell was that for?" His father's losing his temper.

"We need to talk!" Sam briskly answers. Dean and Eli, also outside, are watching at fair distance.

"About what?"

"About everything!... Where are we going? What's the big deal about this gun?..."

"We don't have time for this right now!"

"Something's big is going on and I wanna know what!"

"Get back in the car, Sam!" John orders.

"No…" Sam's challenging him.

"Sam…" Eli comes close to him, putting a peaceful hand on his arm. "It's me leading John to the nest… And I know because… I already met their leader… It's a long story and I promise I will give you all the details later… But, please let us find it first, okay… Time is running out… They probably already know we're close… Please, Sam, trust me on this…" He finally looks at her and discovers the slight terror she has in her eyes.

"OK…" He whispers, finally giving in.

.

All is now quiet in the nest; most of the vampires are asleep. Luther approaches the young woman. He winds one of her red lock around his finger, playing with it.

"Are you gonna kill me?" She softly sobs, trembling.

"I'm gonna take you so high, you're never gonna come down…" He says in a husky voice. He takes a knife out of his pocket, cuts himself in the arm, drinks from it and kisses her to pour the blood in her mouth. She instantly calms down. "Welcome home, Elisabeth…" He whispers in her ear.


	26. Chapter 25

Chapter 25

Its daylight already, John and his two sons are spying the barn from a distance. Luther is suddenly opening the door, looking around as he could smell that something is around.

"Sonuvabitch! They're really not afraid of the sun?" Dean murmurs.

"Another myth created by some that never met them in the flesh… The only way to properly kill them is by beheading… So yeah, they sleep during the day, but that doesn't mean they won't wake up…" John says.

"Walking right in is not the plan, then?"

"Actually, yes… It is!" He smirks.

"Why does Eli have to stay in your truck?" Sam asks.

"Because of her scent… You saw that vamp' coming out for no reason?... It's because he might have pick it up already… Like she followed his to lead us here… We have to be very careful and protect her from him… Not to be caught…" His father quickly explains.

"She knows that bloodsucker?" Dean's voice suddenly hardens.

John taps them on their shoulders to follow him.

.

They go back to their vehicles, going for their weapons. John has a worried look on his face.

"Is it him?" Eli asks softly. He nods a 'yes'. "What have you in mind?"

"Going in… Release the humans, take back the Colt and kill as much vampires without being caught…"

"No… You can't do that, only the three of you!... You're insane!..."

"It's way too dangerous for you to be involved, you know that… And that would not make much difference with one more going in there…"

"That's not what I meant… Why you not ambush them, get rid of the soldiers first when I take care of Luther?... He won't be suspicious over me..."

"Stop right there, Angel!... This is not an options, you hear me!..." He raises his voice.

"It is a better plan than yours!..." She hardens her tone.

"ENOUGHT!... We have no time for endless discussions... All we risk is losing you and Luther and the Colt… He would fly away in a second if he gets to you… You know that too…" He turns around to make an end at this conversation and faces his two sons. "You boys really wanna know why this gun is so important?..."

"Yes, sir…" Sam says first.

"It's just a legend… I never really believed in his existence until I red Daniel's letter… Story of Colt making a special gun in 1835… Halley's Comet was the closest of earth, the same night men died at the Alamo… Samuel Colt made that gun for a hunter like us… He made only 13 bullets… Half were used during that period and then the colt disappeared till Daniels got his hands on it… Legend says that it can kill anything…"

"Killing anything like supernatural anything?" Dean asks fascinated.

"Like the demon?" Sam adds.

"Yeah, the demon… We may finally have it, if we get that gun…"

"And what about Eli and that Luther guy?" The youngest continues.

"Let's that be for later… That won't help us right now… We need to enter that barn during daylight, it's our best shoot."

.

The three men enter through a window as silently as possible. All the vampires are sleeping here and there in hammocks. Sam and Dean are looking for the human prisoners, while John is going for the Colt.

Sam spots first the reported missing young woman. She seems to be asleep.

.

John finds Luther's bedroom aside from the rest of the nest. The gun is hanging in a holster at the top of the bed. He cautiously makes one step after another to get to it.

.

Dean finds an iron cage with other humans. He is trying to break the lock with a hook.

.

Sam is untying the rope, holding the young woman's hands around the beam. The noise made by the hook Dean is holding, wakes her up. She looks up and starts to squeals like a wild animal, her second set of teeth all out, alerting the other vampires.

.

John, just a few inches away from the gun, hears the scream and backs up just in time to see Luther's rising in his bed. With just a move of his hand, the vampire swings him against the wall. John garbs a bottle he found on the floor and throws it against the black painted window, letting daylight pouring in the room. "Boys!... Run…" He yells.

.

Sam and Dean are running for the door and without stopping break it down. They are followed by the entire nest. But, full daylight soon stops them to pursue.

.

The guys are running back to the road. "Where's John?... What happened?" Eli asks. The brothers are scanning the bushes just below. "We have to go back…" She jumps into the woods.

"Eli!" Dean screams, going after her.

Half way down the hill, she sees John running to her. "I told you to stay in the truck!" He reprimands her.

"You got him?"

"No... And neither the Colt or the prisoners..." He turns to Dean. "What was that scream?"

"Dunno... It came out of nowhere..."

They rejoin Sam ready to start the engine.

"It's okay… They won't follow… But, they have our scents now… They'll wait till dusk to attack…" John says.

"What the hell do we do now?" Dean asks.

"Prepare for the fight!"


	27. Chapter 26

**The weather was so bad today... I got the time to finish two chapters in a row. Enjoy!**

**Take care you all.**

Chapter 26

John sends Dean and Eli to collect some supplies they will need.

"We have to make a stop at a nearest funeral home… Can you locate one on the map?" Dean says, driving out of the parking lot.

"A funeral home?... What for?"

"It says human blood on here…" Showing her the list.

"Oh… Dead men's blood… It's poison to vampires… Got an address, it's not that far…" She explains him the way.

"Poison?... How do you know all this, Eli?"

"Like you might have understood, I already had a head-to-head with vampires before."

"Yeah… And in particular that Luther guy, right?…" He comes a bit harshly.

"It was about a year ago, when I first met your Dad… He was after those vamps… I didn't know anything about them or even they exist, like you… And one night, I was in that bar in the middle of nowhere… Luther accosted me, bought me drink… We started to chat and all… He made me laugh, thing that I didn't have in months… I'm usually not the easy-going type, but he was charming and had those magnetic blue electric eyes on me… I…"

"You followed him?"

"Oh dear!… Don't know why exactly… But at the time, it felt like something normal to do… Like I knew him all along, you know… We went back to his place…"

"You give yourself to him?"

"I… He was kind and thoughtful… He said things I probably wanted or needed to hear…"

"Yeah… Got the picture…"

"I didn't know what he was or what he could do to me… He seemed to be a regular guy… Everything seemed so natural… I even didn't realize when he cut himself in the arm… Letting some blood dropping in my mouth… And that is when your Dad literally flew in the room… Jumping on Luther's back… I don't remember much of what happened and how he could have taken us out of there… I just woke up in a motel room the next morning…"

"You drank vamp juice?" Dean stops the car behind a funeral home, facing her with a disgusting look on his face.

"And about to turn into one, yeah!… But, John took care of me… I'll have to confess that he had some hard time handling me during the effects of the blood!…" She softly laughs.

"Do I have to fear for my life now?" He also laughs.

"No… But, like your father said, once a vampire got your sent, it's for life… And Luther and I still have that awkward mind bond when we're at close range… Since I didn't feed from a human yet when John found me, he knew a way to cancel out the effects… Don't know exactly how he did it… Just remember puking for hours... He watched over me for days, till the vamp's blood was out of my system, sort off… But, Luther was still looking for me and I even nearly escape from the room once… Jesus! Was I stupid!... Your Dad… He told me later that he knew who I was… And from that time, he sort of teaches me to hunt properly, how to search for info and leads, the way to look for signs… And mostly how to stay out of trouble…"

"How long before it was sure that you could not be one of those bloodsuckers?"

"Soon I felt so what better, we left town... Well, he handcuffed me in his truck; just to be sure I wouldn't try to escape once more..." She laughs again. "Luther was still in my head... Calling me to go back to him... I was so lost... I didn't know who I was anymore... What I felt… So freaking angry and scared at the same time..." She suddenly stops smiling. "He should have left me there..."

"Who?... Dad?... Nan, he would never do such a thing..."

"He could have been killed because of me... I was a walking danger..."

"Why didn't Dad kill the bastard?... How did you get rid of him?…"

"He brought me to Elkins… The vampire's specialist." She gesture brackets with her fingers. "Everything your father knows about them, he learns it from him… Elkins promised your Dad to take care of Luther… It seems it didn't work out as planned…"

"How do you feel now?..." Dean softly asks, resting an arm on the back of the seat.

"Honest?… I'm fucking terrified... I don't know if I'm strong enough to... I feel it inside of me, still around..." She drops her look on the floor, twisting nervously her hands together.

"Eli... Look at me..." Dean says, taking her chin in his hand. "I won't let anything happen to you… I promise... Dad, Sam and I will protect you... You understand?" She nods a 'yes'. "So, let's get that vamp's poison and go back at the motel… But first, you have to promise me something?"

"What?"

"If you feel you cannot hold that weird thing inside of you anymore… You let me know right away, okay?... Don't think you can deal with it by yourself… You got that?"

"Are you bossing me?" She tries to smile.

"Yep!... So, promise me?"

"I promise…" She sighs.

.

At the same time at the motel, John, busy to plan the attack, papers all over the table, stairs at Sam.

"Sammy…" He starts to bring his son's attention. "When you were born… You know what I did?"

"No…" His youngest son answers.

"I raise a college fund for you and your brother… $100 every month until… Anyways… My point is that this was never the life that I wanted for you… So, when you left home, it felt hard on me… I was scared I couldn't protect you anymore…"

"That's why you were so mad at me?"

"You gotta understand something… After your mom passed… Everything I saw was evil… And all I cared about was keeping your boys alive… I wanted you prepared, ready… Somewhere, down this path, I stopped being your father… And become more of a drill sergeant… You away to that school… Alone and vulnerable…"

"Dad… I understand now…" Sam slowly answers, coming in front of him.

"Sammy, it just never occurred to me what YOU wanted… What YOU felt… And couldn't accept that you and I are just different."

Sam starts to laugh softly with tears in his eyes. "We're not so different, Dad… Not anymore… Mom … And now Jenny… We have probably more in common than you think."

"Yeah… I guess you're right, Son…"

"Hey, Dad?... What did you do with that college fund?"

"Spent it on ammo…" They both burst into laughter when Eli and Dean enter the room. "You got it?"

"Of course we have it!... You send out your bests!" Dean winks to Eli.

"Boys… You know what to do with it…" The father says to his sons.


	28. Chapter 27

Chapter 27

Dean, his head under the hood, is faking a car trouble in an isolated portion of the road.

"Problems?" A woman's voice comes behind him. He slowly turns around. "If you'd like… Can give you a lift to my place, Darling." Vampire Kate adds, caressing his chest through the T-shirt.

"Think I'll pass… Don't do bloodthirsty chicks…" He smirks.

She slaps him with the back of her hand and he falls flat on the ground. A huge black vampire appears next to her. She lifts Dean up like he weights nothing. "Why?... We can have so much fun together, Sugar." She goes to kiss him when an arrow pierces her through from the back; instantly followed by another one, hitting the other vampire. "Damn it!..." She turns around to see John and Sam coming out of the edge of the woods. "Barely even stings!"

"Give it a moment, Sweetheart… It was soaked in Dead man's blood… Isn't it poison for you?" The father grins, just before she faints. He then faces the black guy, raising his machete and with no hesitation, cuts his head off. "Lift her up!" He orders his older son and gives her the same treatment.

.

A little further in the woods, they go for the campfire settled at the spot they previously planned.

"What's that smell?" Sam asks.

"Saffron, skunk's cabbage and trillium… It'll block our scents for a while... Put some of the ashes on your clothes." John answers distractedly, looking around. "The hell!... Where is Eli?" They start to look around, not screaming her name, risking being located. "Damned!..."

"You think she went after Luther on her own?" Dean comes.

"I fear she did… She has enough guts to do it…" With no other word, he goes back to his pickup, followed by his two sons. "What are we doing now?"

"Go for the barn... She's on foot, maybe we can catch up with her before she gets there..." He explains entering it.

.

Bo, one of the vampire soldiers, comes back at the nest. "They got Hank and Kate!" He reports to Luther. "What do you want us to do?" They hear some ruffle on the side of the barn, picking everybody's attention.

"You can come to me, Elisabeth... Nobody will hurt you..." Luther says to the dark.

"Who the fuck is Elisabeth?" Bo spits out aggressively.

A human shape comes out of the shade. "Hello Luther..." She softly says.

The roar of a car passing by on the road nearby puts Luther on the alert. He grabs Eli's arm and drag her inside.

.

John, a pair of night-vision binoculars in front of him, is trying to see inside the barn. "We have to go back inside." He whispers to his sons.

"No Dad... That would be the last thing to do now... They have Eli... They probably expecting we'll come for her..." Dean warns.

"She puts herself into this... And I need that Colt!" John harshly says.

"You don't mean that... Leaving her to the vamps... Really?"

"If you have a better plan to get her and the Colt... I'm all hears... But, it has to be fast, because Luther won't wait long to turn her this time... He won't make that same mistake twice... And we won't know for sure what we're getting out of that barn... Eli or a turned bloodthirsty vamp!"

.

"This day started quiet roughly, but it seems to go for a happy ending… You are welcome in my nest, Elisabeth…" Luther showing her around.

"Our reunion is not coincidental, I'm afraid… I'm here to make you an offer…" She manages to look comfortable talking to him.

"An offer?... Interesting… And I though you came back just out of love…"

She softly laughs. "Those hunters… They don't come after you?"

"Really?... You're sure?... After what we did to Elkins, you really want me to believe they won't seek revenge?"

"Killing Elkins was a bad move… And I suppose some of your soldiers already paid the price of it… Am I right?"

"I lost a few today… That's right…"

"Will you go for revenge, Luther?… Will you start a war?... I thought you were looking for peace, now."

"Depends…"

"Well, in fact, there is something they want more than just wasting you and your kind… It's that Colt you took from Elkins…"

"It's just an antique… What is making that gun more important than their lust for extermination?… They are hunters… That's what hunters do…"

"Give them the Colt and they will leave you in peace!... I can guarantee you this…"

"Why are you so scared of me, Elisabeth?" Luther asks, suddenly close to her, brushing slightly her hair with the back of his hand.

"It's a scary place… And I don't know if I can trust… Your companions…" She answers, in the most languorous tone she could manage.

"They won't lift a finger on you… They have orders and they know what they risk if they don't follow them…" He stares at her intensively. "You are blocking your thoughts from me…"

"I learned a few things… Who is she?" Pointing a finger at the red-haired young woman, still attached at the beam, to change the conversation.

"A pale reflection of you, I'm afraid…"

"Hum…" She plays disappointment.

Luther comes closer to her and takes her in his arms. "Don't be mad, my Love… I was just… Unoccupied… And painfully lonely…"

"Luther, don't... I'm not…" She whispers. He goes to kiss her, but she sees his second pair of teeth appearing. She slowly pushes him away from her. "Wait… Not now… That guarantee I told you of, is me… If you turn me before the deal is made, I doubt those hunters will let you go out alive…" She manages to say, feeling her willpower degrading by the second.

"Do you trust them?" He asks.

"Yes… I know them well… And they are true men of word…"

"Did one of them own you?"

"Ah… Well…"

"Don't be afraid to tell me…"

"My heart belongs to one of them, yes…" She murmurs as steady as possible.

"That is very unfortunate… I don't know if I can keep you on my side…"

"He doesn't know… We didn't consummate…" She says quickly, approaching him again.

"Will they leave you be if I'm agree to hand them the Colt…"

"They will do as I say… I told you, the gun has a bigger purpose for them… Nothing to do with us…"

Luther stays silent for a moment, walking along the barn. "So, then be it… Make the deal…"


	29. Chapter 28

Chapter 28

After Luther giving her his consent to hand over the Colt to the Winchesters, Eli takes her cell phone and calls Dean.

"Dean… It's Eli…"

"WTF, Eli!…Why did you get yourself into this?…" Dean immediately yells at her.

"Would you please stop barking for once and listen to me…"

"Why would I listen to you?… You might be already one of them!"

"Well, I'm not… Listen… Luther is willing to give you the Colt at the strict condition you do not kill or hunt any of the vamps in his nest…"

"Sorry, I can't make you that promise, Hun!"

"Well, pass me to someone who can…" She orders him.

John comes on the phone. "Angel… How are you?… You manage?..." He softly says.

"I'm fine… Did you hear the offer?" She gives a quick look at Luther that is listening to everything she's saying.

"Did he touch you?"

"No… On the main road at two miles down here…" Still staying as vague as possible in her answers, afraid that the vampire would grab away the phone.

"We'll figure something out… Give us an hour…" He calmly answers.

"In an hour… Perfect!" She cuts the conversation short. "Done… I told you they would listen to me… Those are good guys and trustworthy." She smiles to Luther. He goes near his vampires and whispers orders at them.

.

It's nearly time for the meeting; Luther and Eli are leaving the barn, escorted by two vampires.

Bo receives the assignment to mount guard during their absence and kill all the humans if something goes south. Suddenly, he hears some noise coming from the entrance door and goes checking. He stays in front of it for a few seconds. Since he picks no other sound, he turns around.

"Bouh!" Dean just says before swinging his blade, beheading him.

Going for the prisoner's cage, he falls face to face with another woman vampire. Doing as if he was running away, he raises his machete, hitting her in the arm. Another step and the head rolls on the floor. "That makes two!…" He grins and goes for the cage to release the humans. "Told you I was coming back…" He says, forcing the lock.

.

On the road, John is waiting alone in front of his pickup. The two vampires, Luther and Eli are coming out of the sports car that just stopped. Luther has the Colt in his hand. He lays it down at the equal distance between the two vehicles.

"Eli… Could you please bring me this gun?" John says.

"She stays here… She was not part of the bargain…" Luther comes, not willing to lose her again.

"There was never question of giving you something in exchange either…" Just with a movement of his hand, Luther sends John flying against his truck, making Sam and Dean running out of the woods, their machete in their hands.

Eli manages to grab the Colt, but Luther obliges her to go back to him. She has more and more trouble to fight against his power. With another gesture, he orders his two vampires to overcome the brothers. They wrap each an arm around their neck, making them drop their weapon.

"Eli… Eli… Listen to my voice… You can fight this…" Dean struggles to say.

"Is this him?" Luther asks her. She gently nods a 'yes'.

"Eli… Please… Look at me… Look at me…" Dean's still talking to her. She slowly turns her gaze, locking her eyes in his. He can feel the trouble she's dealing with.

She slowly breaks away from Luther, pointing the Colt at Dean. Luther starts to smile and lets her do. She does another two steps to get right in the middle of everybody. In a sort of slow-motion, she aims Sam, then Dean again. "Eli… It's me… Dean… I know you're strong…" He now begs her. She pulls the trigger, tears rolling on her face.

Unexpectedly, she turns her arm and shoots a bullet right between Luther's eyes. His face shows surprise first, his eyes wide open and then his entire body starts to glow to finally drops into pieces on the ground. Still in a sort of trance, she is now aiming the two vampires still holding Sam and Dean. "Let them go and I'll show you mercy!" She says in a toneless voice. They evaluate the odds, looking at what's left from their leader. She pulls the trigger again. They let go, quickly jump into their car and speed away.

Sam goes checking on John, while Dean comes to Eli. Delicately, he takes the Colt from her hand; her whole body starts to shake. He takes her in an embrace, holding her tight. "It's all right, Eli… I've got you… He's gone…" He softly murmurs her.

.

Back at the motel, Dean pours two glasses of Whisky and gives one to Eli. John enters the room and sits beside her.

"You ignored a direct order, young lady…" He comes softly.

"John, I'm sorry… But, I knew it was a better way to get what we wanted…"

"Trowing yourself into the lion's mouth?... Knowing you might not be strong enough to resist his call… And not to mention disappearing like you did, without leaving a thing for us to know where you were up to?..."

"Dad, she made the right move… Luther, with his 'love' thing, had a weak spot… And she took advantage of it…" Dean cautiously steps in.

"She puts us all in danger by not telling us!..." John comes a little bit more roughly.

"I tried to talk to you about it… But, you cut me out… You always thing I'm too weak to handle… I'm stronger than you think…You made me stronger, John… And I needed… I had to kill him myself…"

"What made you think that we would let Luther go alive?"

"Chances were you would not have the occasion…" She whispers…

"Dad, could we please leave this behind us… We made it alive, right?..."

John stands up. "Yes, Dean… We made it alive, this time… But what next?…"

"The Yellow-eyed Demon?… Think we proved ourselves to you that we are good hunters… That all together as a team, we can deal with any of those bastards!…" Dean firmly says.

"It's scares the hell out of me!... You boys, and even you Eli, are all I've got left in this life…" John takes a moment to think. "But, I guess, you're right… We are stronger as a team… So, we'll go after this damn thing… Together!" He concludes.

.

Later that night, Eli is outside, sitting on a picnic table. She is looking at the starts, tears rolling on her cheeks.

Dean rejoins her, handing her a bottle of beer. "Don't tell me you're crying for that bloodsucker?"

"No… It's just… The aftershock, I guess… You know, when I was with Luther in the nest, at a certain moment I felt I would not have enough strength to fight him… It was harder and harder… And I was about to let go…"

"What made you hold?"

"You…" She whispers, instantly regretting what she just said.

"Me?"

"I mean…" Eli starts to blush, hoping the dark won't make him notice it.

"Oh! Us…" Dean pointing at the motel door.

"Yeah!..." She sighs in relief.

"Well, glad it worked… You killed that son of a bitch!" Dean says, clinking his bottle against hers.

"Yep… My sixth sense gave that Demon a third eye…" She laughs.

"That is actually funny!"

"Really?"

"Yeah!" They both burst into laughter.


	30. Chapter 29

**Sunday is a good day... Two new chapters finished. ;-)**

**And I'd like also to which all the Supernatural fans around here a happy Halloween.**

**Peace, people.**

Chapter 29

In a church, a Priest is blowing out the candles around the chancel. He suddenly feels a cold wind running down his spine. He turns around, but only sees darkness. After a bow in front of the cross, he follows the ambulatory and goes through the door that leads to the sacristy.

He opens the wardrobe, removes his chasuble and puts on a hanger. The cold air surrounds him again. He lifts his gaze and faces a blond woman in front of him.

"Father… I have a confession to make…" She says languorously.

"The church is closed for today, my dear child… Can it wait till tomorrow?"

"I'm afraid not…" She changes her eyes into dark black.

"I know what you are!... You can't be here, it's holy ground!..." The priest making steps back.

"Please… Maybe this works in the minor leagues… But not with me…" She spits out.

"What do you want?"

"The Winchesters…"

"I didn't speak to John for over a year… You are wasting your time… And if I knew where he was, I'd never tell you!" He challenges her.

"I know…" And she slits his throat, blood abundantly gargling out of it.

.

Manning, Colorado. Eli, John and his boys are all in a room with walls covered with graphics, pictures, newspapers articles and weather forecasts.

"So, this is it… This is everything I know…" John showing around the place. "We're looking nearly our whole lives for this demon, right?... Not a trace, nothing… Until about a year ago, for the first time, I picked up a trail… The demon must have come out of hiding or hibernation." He explains.

"So, what's this trail you found?" Dean asks.

"Starts in Arizona, then New Jersey, California… Houses burned down… It's going after families, just like it went after ours…"

"Ours?"

"Yeah, Eli's mum died in similar circumstances…"

Dean turns to face Eli. "Why didn't you ever tell us that? You knew for us…"

"I just knew recently about my mum… Your Dad told me… And I didn't want you to take pity on me…" She answers a bit annoyed.

"Pity…"

"Families with infants?" Sam cuts his brother to avoid another scene between the two.

"Yeah!... The night of the kid's 6 mouth birthday…" John says.

"So basically, this demon is going after these kids for some reason… The same way it came for me?... So, mum's death… Jess, it's all because of me?..." Sam raises his tone.

"We really don't know that…"

"Really?... I'd say we're pretty damn sure, Dean!" He suddenly explodes.

"What about Eli's mum, huh?… Are you gonna take the blame for it too, now?"

Sam is cut by surprise. "Stop telling it's all your fault… It's not!... It's nobody's fault!... And WE are gonna deal with the problem!... You got me!" Dean gets worked up too.

"OK!... That's enough, boys…" John raises from his chair.

"Why is it doing it? What does it want?" Eli calmly asks looking at the papers pinned on the wall.

"Look, I wish I had more answers… I do… I've always been one step behind it… I've never arrived in time to…"

"So, how do we find it before it hits again?" Dean requests.

"It took me a while to see the pattern… But, days before these fires there are signs: Cattle-death, temperature fluctuations, electrical storms… And to confirm my little theory, I checked back to…"

"Lawrence… These things happened there too?…" Dean continues the sentence.

"A week before your mother died… And in Palo Alto, before Jess… And in Sioux Falls…" John finishes, looking at Eli. "And these signs are now starting again…"

"Where?" Sam says, still in an angry tone.

"Salvation, Iowa."

.

Arriving near Salvation city limits, John suddenly pulls over on a side road.

"God damn it!.. Son of a bitch!..." He angrily closes his truck door.

"What is it?" Dean asks, coming out of his car.

"I just got a call from Caleb…"

"Is he OK?"

"He's fine… But, Jim Murphy's dead!" John sadly announces.

Sam leaning over the roof. "Paster Jim?" John nods a 'yes'. "How?"

"Throat was slashed… He bled out… Caleb said they found traces of sulphur at Jim's place…"

"A Demon…" Dean whispers. "The Demon, you think?" He raises his gaze to his father.

"I don't know for sure… Maybe he knows we're getting close to him…"

"What do you wanna do?"

"Now, we act like every second counts… There're two hospitals, a clinic and a heath centre in this county…We split up, we cover more ground… I want records… I want a list of every infant that's gonna be 6 month of in the next week…" John explains, looking around to everybody.

"That could be dozens of kids… How the hell are we gonna know which is the right one?" Sam asks.

"We'll check them all, that's how!... You got any better idea?..."

"No, sir…"

Dean notices that his father seems very affected. "Dad?"

"Yeah!... You know… I can't… This ends now!... I'm ending it… I don't care what it takes!" He says before taking the road again.

In the truck, Eli shyly asks to John who Jim Murphy was.

"When Sam and Dean were kids, he played baby-sitter while I was on hunts… It's a great loss… He was a good man… And my boys loved him…"

.

John drops Eli in front of the Clinic. He will take the next hospital.

Dean has been assigned to the second hospital and Sam the Health Centre.


	31. Chapter 30

Chapter 30

Two hours later, Sam is coming out of the Health Centre, a file in his hand. He takes his cell phone to call Dean to pick him up, when a violent headache makes him freeze on the side-walk. He sees flashes of images of a woman and her baby, she is putting the little one to bed, a train is whistling in a distance, a shadow's bedding over the crib. When the vision stops, he takes a map out of his backpack, looking for a railway, but it goes along several streets in town.

.

While finishing her research at the Clinic, Eli suddenly starts to feel dizzy. She asks a nurse for the nearest restroom. Soon as she locks herself in, she falls on the floor. She 'wakes up' in the eyes of a mother talking to her baby. She is wandering around in a food store. "What'd like to do next, huh, Rosie?... If it's still raining outside, what you think about a good warm bath at home?... Mummy has finished the groceries; we're going right now…" She softly explains to the baby in his buggy.

"That will be $54.82, Monica." The check-out assistant says. She hands over her credit card.

Eli wakes up, still on the floor of the restroom, happy to notice that nobody was around her.

She grabs her phone to call John.

.

They all meet in a motel. Sam tells them about what he saw.

"A vision?" John asks, hardly believing it.

"Yes… I saw a demon bending over a crib where a baby was sleeping…" Sam answers, massaging his forehead.

"And this is going to happen?"

"Exactly the way I see them…"

"They started as nightmares… Then, while he was awake…" Dean explains.

"So, both of you have those... abilities?" John looks at Eli and Sam.

"Each in his particular ways, it seems…" Eli shrugs.

"When did it start for you, Sam?"

"A few month ago…"

"Just like Eli's…"

"It's like the closer we are to anything involving the Demon, the stronger their get…"

"You think?... You think that it has something to do with the Demon getting near us?" Eli asks.

"It's what I guess… When was the last time you had a travel, huh?..."

"Way back to the Strigha, I think…" She tries to remember. "Sam, when were you gonna tell me about your visions?… Since, you knew about my stuff."

"As you are the best in life story sharing!…" Sam mocks her.

"All right, all right!... Settle down your horses you two… Visions, mind travelling… The fact is that we know the Demon is in town and will strike tonight… And this family's gonna go through the same hell we went through… But, I won't let that happen… We won't let that happen… We have a small chance that he still doesn't know what we know… Could give us a serious advantage…" John intervenes.

.

Eli sees that Dean is trying to make a sandwich. She gently takes the knife out of his hand and with a gesture make him understand she will take care of it. He smiles, in expectation of another of her famous triple sandwich he likes so much.

Sam phone starts to ring. "Hello?"

"Sam?" A woman says in a drawl.

"Who is this?"

"Think real hard… It'll come to you…"

"Meg?… Last time I saw you, you fell out of a window…"

"Oh yeah!... Thanks to you…"

"Who's Meg?" Eli whispers to Dean.

"A weird chick we met a few months ago… Before you were around…" He tries to say between two bites in his sandwich.

"That really hurt my feelings, by the way." Meg continues.

"Just your feelings?... That was a seven story drop…"

"Let me speak to your Dad…"

"My dad?... I don't know where my Dad is?" Sam lies. Dean puts down his sandwich, focusing on the conversation.

"It's time for the grown-ups to talk, Sam… Let me speak to him… NOW!" Meg yells. Sam hands the phone to his father.

"This is John…"

"Howdy, John… I'm Meg… I'm a friend of your boys… I'm also the one who watched Jim Murphy chock on his own blood…" She pauses. "Still there?..."

"I'm here…" He tries to stay calm.

"But, that was already yesterday… Today, I'm in Lincoln… Visiting another old friend of yours… He wants to say 'hi'…" She holds out the phone.

"John… Whatever they do, don't give…" Caleb managed to say.

"Caleb?... Caleb!... You listen to me, bitch… He's got nothing to do with anything. You let him go." He orders Meg.

"We know you have the Colt, John…"

"I don't know what you're talking about…"

"Oohhh… Okay…" She exaggerates her surprise. "So… Listen to this…" She has a short knife in between two fingers and with a swift movement cuts Caleb throat. She places the speaker near him for John to hear his friend slowly dying. "Let's try again now… We know you have the gun… Word travels fast… So as far as we're concerned, you just declared war… And this is what war looks like. It has casualties…" Meg's enjoying the moment.

"I'm gonna kill you… You know that?" John threatens her.

"Oh John, please… Mind your blood pressure…" She laughs. "So, this is the thing… We're gonna keep doing what we're doing… And your friends… Anyone who's ever helped you, gave you shelter… Anyone you ever loved… They'll all die… Unless, you give us that gun…" She poses again. "I'm waiting, Johnny… Better answer before the buzzer…"

"Okay…" John murmurs between his teeth.

"Sorry… What did you say?"

"I said, okay… I'll bring you the Colt."

"There is a warehouse in Lincoln, on the corner of Wabash and Lake…"

"It's gonna take me about a day's drive to get there."

"Meet me there at midnight tonight." Not caring about John's protest.

"That's impossible! I can't get there in time… And I can't just carry a gun on a plane!..."

"Oh, then I guess your friends die, don't they?... If you do decide to make it… Come alone…" Meg hangs up.


	32. Chapter 31

Chapter 31

"So, you think Meg is a Demon?" Sam asks his father.

"Either that or she's possessed by one… It doesn't really matters."

"What do we do?" Dean requests.

"I'm going to Lincoln…"

"What?"

"Doesn't seem like I have a choice… If I don't go, our friends die…"

"Dad… The Demon is coming tonight… Here!... That gun is all we got… You can't just hand it over…" Sam pleads.

"Who said anything about handing it over?... Besides us and a couple of vamps, no one really seen then gun… No one knows what it looks like…"

"So, what? You're just gonna pick one in a pawnshop?" Dean asks.

"Antique store…" John rectifies with a smile.

"You want to hand Meg a fake one and hope she doesn't notice?... That's your plan?" His elder Son barely convinced.

"Look… As long as it's close, she shouldn't be able to tell the difference."

"Yeah, but for how long?... What happens when she figures it out?" Dean says more and more worried about his father's plan.

"I just need to buy a few hours, that's all…"

"You mean for us?... You want us to stay here and kill that Demon by ourselves?"

"No, Sam… I wanna stop loosing people we love… I want you to go back to College… I want Dean to have a home… I want Eli being a mother one day… I want this to be over…" John sighs heavily.

.

Dean meets back with the others on an abandoned road. He hands over to his father the most antique gun he could find in the neighbourhood. "You know this is a trap, don't you?" He says, looking worriedly to Eli. "And Meg asks you to come alone…"

"I can handle Meg… I got a whole arsenal loaded… But, I need someone for backup and keeping you informed of the situation… In no case, Eli will be near or with me at the warehouse… Don't worry, Son…" John winks at Dean.

"Dad?... If this turn bad, promise me to get the hell out, okay?... Don't get yourself killed… You're no good to us dead…"

"Same goes for you…" His father answers, taking the real Colt out of his jacket. "Listen to me… They make the bullets special for this gun… There're only four of them left… And without them, the Colt is useless… You make every shot count!"

"Yes, Sir…" Sam says.

"I've been waiting a long time for this fight… Now, it's here and I'm not gonna be in it… It's up to you boys now… It's your fight… You finish what I started, you understand?"

"See you soon, Dad…" Sam hugs him. Dean stays quiet, looking at the Colt his father just handed him.

John goes for his truck. "Eli… It's time…"

"I see you guys later… Okay?..." She comes a bit uncertain.

"Yeah, for once try not to put your ass where it's get wet, okay?" Dean mumbles.

"That was actually funny, Dean…" She smiles and enters the vehicle. The two brothers watch them going away.

.

John arrives at Lincoln, putting the fake gun in his jacket. He hands some holy water and a rosary to Eli. "You know what to do with this… And when you're finished, you leave, okay?... No personal initiatives… You gently wait for me at the meeting point… You got that?..." He orders her.

"Yes, Sir…" She softly says.

"Hey, angel… It's gonna be fine… Just follow the plan…" He hugs her and goes for the warehouse.

Eli climbs on the roof from the other side of the building, looking for the water supply tank. She opens the iron trapdoor, praying that there is still water in it. She hears shuffling and steps sounds coming from beneath her, its Meg arriving on the premises. She ducks for cover. After a moment, no other noises were made; she peeks looking down. The demon was gone and she doesn't spot any other movement in the round. She goes up the ladder again and starts to read the Latin incantation from the paper she received from John, throwing the rosary in the tank.

.

At Salvation, Sam and Dean are mounting guard in the Impala in front of the house of the supposedly targeted family.

"Maybe we could tell them there's a gas leak?... Might get them out of the house for a few hours…" Sam proposes.

"Yeah!... And how many times has that actually worked for us?" His brother replies.

"Yeah… We could always tell them the truth…"

"And how many times has that…"

"I get it… I get it… And I know…It's just with what's coming for these people…"

"We just gotta wait for that Demon to show up and we get it before it gets them…"

"I wonder how Dad and Eli are doing." Sam says a little bit concerned.

"I'd feel a lot better if we were there backing them up…" Dean says with that worried look on his face again.

"I'd feel a lot better if they were here backing us up… Well, either way, I'd feel better all together…" Sam softly laughs.

"What's so funny?"

"After all these years, we're finally here… Doesn't seem real…"

"We just gotta keep our heads focus on the job, like always…"

"And you're 100% focus right now?"

"What's that suppose to mean?" Dean comes a little harshly.

"Nothing… Nothing…" Sam backing of, his brother not in the mood for light chats. "Dean… I just… I wanna thank you…"

"For what?"

"For everything… You've always had my back, you know… I just wanted to let you know… Just in case…"

"Don't say 'just in case'… Nobody's dying tonight… Not us, not that family, nobody!... Except that Demon… So, you quit that speech of yours, you understand me?" Dean hammers.

.

Meg is looking for John in the warehouse. He slowly comes behind her. "John! You made it…" She says not even turning around. "To bad for me… I was really hoping you let me kill some more of your friends…" She finally faces him.

"Sorry to disappoint…"

"Let's get to business, will you… Why don't you hand over the gun?… Get over it…"

"If I give you the gun, how do I get out of here?" John asks with a little smile on his face.

"If you're as good as they say you are; I'm sure you'll figure something out…"

"Maybe I'll just shoot you?"

"You want shoot me, baby?... Go ahead. It won't end anything… There's more where I come from…" A form is slowly coming out from the dark to join Meg.

"Who is that?"

"Someone with a lesser sense of humour than me… So, I suggest you give us the gun, now…" John hands the gun by the grip. She accepts it. "This is it?" He nods a 'yes'. She gives it to the other demon. "What do you think?" The man is staring at John. He slowly pulls the trigger and shoots fire on Meg. She jumps in surprise, but quickly realises she's not really hurt. "I can't believe you just shoot me!" She yells at the guy.

"It's a fake!" He throws it away, menacing John with his gaze.

"You're dead, John… Your boys are dead!..." She threatens him.

"I'd never use the gun… How could I know it wouldn't work?" John tries to make them believe.

"I'm so not in the mood for this… I've just been shot at!"

"Well, I guess you're lucky the gun wasn't real!" He says, making slow steps back.

"That's funny, Johnny… You're gonna die, but that was funny…" They hear some noise coming from the rear end of the warehouse, both demons just give a quick look, but enough to let John the time to run through a door right behind him.

He locks it and opens a trap on the floor that leads underground; the demons already behind him.

He stops in the middle of the hallway and smiles. He opens a vane from one of the pipes on the wall, letting water coming out of a faucet. The man demon hesitates before pursuing his way, but soon he touches the water, he understands and backs up to a dry place.

"Holy water?... Real cute, John…" Meg says just before John continues his way out.


	33. Chapter 32

Chapter 32

"I can't hold this any more…" Dean bursts suddenly grabbing his phone. He lets it rings for nearly ten times before cutting it. "Damned… She should be answering by now… If the plan had worked…" He angrily says.

"Did you try Dad?" Sam asks.

"No… Not yet… I supposed that Eli might pick it up first, since her part of the job was simple and short…"

"You start to like her, don't you?" The youngest smiles.

"What?... Are you fucking kidding me?... That smartass?..." Dean comes not really convincing.

"Yeah… Right…" Sam continues to smile.

"Shut up, Sammy…" He takes his phone again and tries his Dad's number. No answer either.

"Maybe Meg was late?... Or bad cell reception?..."

"Yeah… Well…" The car radio suddenly starts to make strange hindrances. The wind rises and the lights from the house are flickering. The two brothers look at each other and simultaneously rush out of the car.

.

John arrives at his pick-up truck, discovering that all four tires were slashed. He runs around the building to find another way to escape.

.

Sam and Dean silently enter the house. They are wandering in the main room, when suddenly the husband rushes from the hallway a baseball bat in his hands, hitting a lamp on its way. "Get out of my house!" He screams.

Dean overcomes him easily. "Please… Be quiet and listen to me… Sir?... We are trying to help you…"

"Charlie?... Everything okay down there?" Monica's voice coming from upstairs.

"Monica! Get the baby!" He manages to yell to her.

"Don't go in the nursery!" Sam warns her, trying to go above the man's scream.

"You stay away from her!" The man continues to struggle, obliging Dean to knock him out.

Upstairs, Monica goes checking on her daughter and sees a man next to the crib. "Who are you?" She is immediately smashed against the wall and lifted up to the ceiling. Sam runs through the second floor hallway. "Rosie… Rosie…" The mother calls, still captive. Sam raises the gun, just in time to see the Yellow-eyes Demon and fires. It transforms in smoke and disappeared, making Monica fall from the ceiling. "My baby!" She cries.

"No… Wait!..." He holds her.

Dean arrives. "Get her out of here… I got it!" He says taking Rosie from her bed, just before it bursts into flames.

.

John is still running through the industrial estate, trying to find a way out. He grabs his phone to call Eli, when he's briskly smashed against a wall, an invisible force crushing him hard. The Demon man arrives towards him. Just with this gaze, he is slowly sliding John's struggling body up.

.

At the house, the nursery suddenly explodes. Monica is dragged out by Sam, followed by Dean carefully holding Rosie in his arms.

The husband is already outside. "You get away from my family!" He shouts, ready to jump on Sam's throat.

"No, Charlie, don't… They saved us!" Monica's holding him by the arm, before turning around to take her baby back. "Thank you…" She whispers.

Sam looking up at the window where flames are coming out heavy, he sees the shadow of the demon. "It's still in there!" He's ready to run back in the house.

"Sam… Sam… No!" Dean's clinging on his brother to stop him.

"Dean… Let me go… It's still in there!"

"It's suicide!... The house is burning to the ground!" Dean yells.

"I don't care…" Sam's yelling too.

"I do…" The shadow just disappears again.

.

Back at the motel, Dean tries to reach Eli again. "Come on… Come on… Answer that damn phone, damn it!" He rages. "Something's wrong, man…" He says when he claps the phone closed. Sam is sitting nervously on the edge of a bed, eyes glued on the floor. "You hear me?... Something must have happened…"

"If you had just let me go in there… I could have ended all this…" Sam whispers, ignoring his brother concern.

"Sam, the only thing you were gonna end was your life!"

"You don't know that…"

"So what? You're just willing to sacrifice yourself, is that it?" Dean's voice rises again.

"Yeah… Yeah… You're damn right I am…"

"Well… That's not gonna happen… Not as long as I'm around!"

"What are you talking about, Dean?... We let it go?"

"Sam… I wanna waste it, just like you… Okay?... But, it's not worth dying over… If hunting this Demon means you getting yourself killed… Then, I hope we never find the damn thing!"

"That thing killed Jess… That thing killed our Mum… And Eli's Mum… What more do you want?…"

"You said yourself once that no matter what we do, they're gone… And they're never coming back…"

Sam grabs his brother by the collar and slams him against the wall. "Don't you say that… Not you… Not after all this…"

"Sam… Look… The four of us now, that's all we have… It's all I have… Sometimes I feel like I'm barely holding it together, bro… And without you, Dad and… I…" Dean's calming his brother down. He sees tears forming in his eyes.

"Yeah… Dad… They should have called by now…" Sam's coming back to his senses and lets Dean go. "Try Eli again…"

Dean, his phone glued on his ear, waits. No answer. He's dialling his father's, someone is answering.

"You boys really screwed up big time!" Meg says.

Dean looks at his brother. "Where is he?" His voice is shaking.

"You're never gonna see your father again…" And she hangs up.


	34. Chapter 33

Chapter 33

"They've got Dad…" Dean barely arrives to mouth.

"Meg?" Sam asks. He nods a 'yes'. "What'd she say?"

"I just told you, Sammy…"

"She only mentions Dad?"

"Yeah… Okay… Okay…" He starts to grab his stuff and puts it in his duffel.

"What are you doing, Dean?"

"We gotta go…"

"Why?"

"The Demon knows we're in Salvation… All right?.. It knows we've got the Colt… It's got Dad and it's coming for us now!"

"Good… We've got three bullets left… Let it come…"

"Listen, we're not ready… We don't know how many of them are out there… We're leaving, now!" Dean Yells.

.

Dean is driving like a mad man on the road.

"I'm telling you, we could've taken them…" Sam says.

"What we need is a plan and not playing kamikaze… They're probably keeping Dad alive. Just gotta figure out where. They'll wanna trade him for the gun…" Dean notices that is brother is not convinced. "What?"

"Dean… If that was true, why didn't Meg mention a trade?... Dad, he might be…"

"Don't…"

"Look, I don't wanna believe it any more than you… But if he is, all the more reason to kill this damn thing. We still have the Colt. We can finish the job."

"Screw the job, Sammy!…"

"I'm just trying to do what he'd want. He would want us to keep going."

"Quit talking about him like he's dead, already… Listen to me; everything stops until we get him back… You understand me? Everything…"

"So, how do we find him?"

"We go to Lincoln… Start at the warehouse where he was supposed to meet with them…"

"Come on!... You really think these Demons are gonna leave a trail?"

"You're right on that… So, let's go to the place where Eli should be, then… She might know more…"

"Dean… If she was safe, why is she not answering her phone?... Please, consider the possibility that she might have been taken too…"

"Meg didn't say anything about her… I still trust that low class demon doesn't know anything about Dad having a partner with him… I have a better idea…" Dean briskly turns left.

"Where are you going?..." Sam asks, holding on the door handle.

"We need help… Little detour…" He just answers.

.

In the early morning, the car is parked in front of an old house surrounded by a salvage yard.

"Here you go…" A bearded man in his fifties hands over a silver round flask to Dean.

"What is this… Holy water?"

"That one is…" Pointing at Dean's one. "This is Whiskey…" Showing him the other flask he has in his hands. The man opens it, sips on it and passes it to him.

"Bobby, thanks… Thanks for everything… I wasn't sure if we should come…" Dean says.

"Nonsense… Your daddy needs help. So, you get him back…"

"And hopefully Eli's too…" Dean whispers…

"Eli?... Who's Eli?" Bobby asks.

"She's a hunter… Working with Dad for a while before he sent her over to us…"

"Your father having a hunt partner?… That's a first!"

"He saved her from vampires… And for still unclear reasons took her under his wing… She seems to have lived the same thing than Sam and I… You know, her mum dying in a fire and all…"

Bobby's eyes suddenly widen. "Do you know her full name?"

"Elisabeth Williams… Why?"

"I'll be damn…" The old man softly says.

"What?" Dean comes, seeing Bobby's little smile on his face. "What?"

"Williams is my wife's maiden name… I should have looked at that…"

"What does that mean?" Dean's still puzzling it.

"YOUR Eli is MY daughter, you idjit!"

"Excuse me?" Sam lifts his looks away from the book is was reading.

"Well… We kinda argue about her being a hunter like me… I wanted to protect her from all this… Two years ago, after one of our epic fights, she left… I could trace her here and there for a while, but then she vanished from my radars… John having her under his wing, huh?... I'd bet he didn't know who she really was… Not to mention what kinda story she made up to cloud the issues…"

"Explains some of her weird behaviours… Like not talking about her past and all…" Dean figures out, still a bit shocked about the news.

"Is it true about her mum?... Your wife?..." Sam asks.

"That part is true… Yeah… But, I didn't tell her... For her own sake, I thought… Whatever… I'm in this too, now… So what do you need more…"

"Can I borrow this book?... It's amazing…"

"Key of Salomon?... It's the real deal, you know…"

"And these protective circles?... They really work?"

"Hell yeah… You get a demon in one; they're trapped, powerless… This is serious crap you boys stepped in… Normal year, I hear of three demonic possessions. Maybe four tops… This year, I heard of 27 so far… You get what I'm saying? More and more demons are walking among us… A lot more!" Bobby explains.

"Do you know why?" Sam asks.

"No, but I guess it's something big… And we're all trapped in the middle of it!"

.


	35. Chapter 34

Chapter 34

Outside of Bobby's house, Rumsfeld, the dog, barks a few times and then suddenly stops. Bobby looks through the window. "Something's wrong." He says just before his front door is smashed open by Meg. Dean wants to jump on her back, but with a simple movement of her hand, he goes flying in the middle of piles of books. Sam puts himself in front of Bobby to protect him.

"I want the Colt… The real Colt!... Right now!..." She yells around.

"We don't have it on us… We buried it in a safe place…" Sam answers, backing up in the main room.

"No more crap…" She slowly mouths. "I swear, after everything I heard about you Winchesters… I gotta tell you, I'm a little bit out of control… First Johnny tries to scam me with a fake gun, leaving the real one with you two knuckle-heads… And now you, giving me your shitty version… Did you really think I wouldn't find out?..." She is following them around.

"Actually, we were counting on it…" Dean sighs, holding his ribs. He slowly lifts his head, followed by Meg, facing him now. She discovers a protective circle drawn on the ceiling. "Gotcha!" He smirks.

.

They have attached Meg on a chair, under the demon trap, ready to question her.

Bobby comes in the room. "I salted all the doors and windows… If there are any demons out there, they ain't getting in!"

"Where is our father, Meg?" Dean firmly asks her.

"You didn't ask very nice." She mocks him.

"Where is our father, Bitch?"

"Aoutch… You kiss your mother with this mouth… Oh, I forgot, you don't…" She devilishly smiles.

"You think this is a frigging game?" He shouts, coming closer to threaten her. "Where is he? What did you do to him?"

"He died screaming… I killed him myself…" Dean slaps her with the back of his hand, letting her out a gasp from the pain. "You like hitting a girl, Dean?"

"You're no girl!" He answers full of hate.

"Dean." Bobby calls. He follows him in the other room.

"You okay?" Sam asks.

"She's lying… He's not dead!"

"Dean, you gotta be careful with her. Don't hurt her." Bobby says.

"Why?"

"Because, she really is a girl, that's why."

"What are you talking about?" Sam asks.

"She's possessed… That's a human body possessed by a Demon… You never saw one before?"

"You trying to tell me there's an innocent girl trapped somewhere in there?" Dean looks amazed to Bobby. He nods a 'yes'. "Finally some good news!…" The older smiles.

.

Dean goes back to Meg, followed by the two other men. He hands their Dad's journal to Sam. "Hit it, Sammy. Right there..." He says, showing him the chapter he had opened. His brother starts to read a Latin text from it.

"An exorcism?... Are you serious?..." Meg grins at first, but the more Sam is reading, the more she starts to wince. "I'm gonna rip the bones from your body…" She comes between her teeth.

"No… You're gonna burn in hell…. Unless you tell us where our Dad is…" Dean orders. He looks back at Sam for him to continue the reading. Meg is trembling more and more, letting out small noises from the pain. "He begged for his life with tears in his eyes… He begged to see his sons one last time… That's when I slit his throat!" She viciously murmurs.

"For your sake, I hope your lying… Because if it's true, I swear to God, I will march into hell myself and I will slaughter each and every one of you evil sons of bitches, so help me God…" Dean's eyes changing into pure rage. "Where is he?" He repeats.

"You just won't take dead for an answer, huh?"

"WHERE… IS… HE…?"

"DEAD!"

"NO, HE'S NOT!... He's not dead… He can't be!" Dean makes a few steps away from her, fearing to hit her again.

Sam is still reading. Meg's chair starts to move right and left around the circle. She starts to scream again.

Bobby comes near Dean. "Are you not gonna ask about my daughter?" He whispers in his ear.

"I'm sure she's safe… She would have threatens us with her death too by now… I don't think she even met Eli…"

"Why is she not answering her phone, then?... Or already tried to contact you?..."

"I don't know… But, there must be an explanation."

"I like your optimism!" Dean looks daggers at Bobby.

.

Sam arrives at the last part of the exorcism. "He will be!" Meg suddenly yells out.

"Wait, Sam… What?" Dean asks her.

"He's not dead... But he will be after what we will do to him..." She whispers exhausted.

"How do we know you're telling the truth?"

"You don't..." She smirks again.

"Sam starts reading again..."

"A building, okay?... In Jefferson City..."

"Missouri?... Where?... An address..."

"I don't know..."

"And the Demon where is he?" Sam asks.

" I don't know... I swear... That's everything I know..." She begs.

"Finish it..." Dean says merciless.

"What? I told you the truth!"

"I don't care..."

"You promised, you son of a bitch!" She screams.

"I lied... Sam, read!"

"We can maybe still use her. Find out where the Demon is..." Sam pleads.

"She doesn't know... Finish it!"

"Boys, if you do that... You probably kill her!" Bobby intervenes.

"What?" The brothers let out in unison.

"You said she felt from a building? That girl's body is broken... The only thing keeping her alive is that Demon inside. You exorcise it, the girl's die." He explains.

"We cannot leave her like that either." Dean says.

"She is a human being."

"We're gonna put her out of her misery, then... Sam, do it!"

.

The youngest returns in front of Meg and continues the rite. Suddenly, Meg's eyes turns into black, her all body shaking. As soon as he pronounces the last word, she lets out a loud scream, her head falling backwards, a black smoke coming out of her mouth.

The smoke bounces against the Demon trap on the ceiling before disappearing, leaving an empty body on the chair. Some drops of blood are dripping from Meg's mouth. She raises her head slowly, looking at Sam. "Thank you..." She murmurs.

"Bobby, call 911!" Dean orders.

Sam unties her from the chair. "Come on, let's lay her down..." He says. They delicately transport her on the floor. She is in agony.

"A year..." She whispers.

"What?" Sam softly asks.

"It's been a year... I've been awake for some of it... I couldn't move my own body... It was a nightmare... A nightmare..." Meg stops breathing, her eyes wide open.

.


	36. Chapter 35

Chapter 35

"You better hurry up and leave before the paramedics get here." Bobby advises the brothers.

"What are you gonna tell them?" Dean asks.

"You think you're the ones that invented lying to the cops?" He jokes. "I'll figure something out... Here, take this..." He hands Sam the 'Key of Salomon' book. "You might need it..."

"Thanks, Bobby... Thanks for everything." The youngest hugging him.

"Be careful, all right?" Dean tells the old guy.

"You get back your Dad and my Becky... Just let me know that she's okay when you find her..."

"You don't wanna to see her?..."

"I think it's more her avoiding me... But, tell her that I understand now..." Bobby sadly comes.

"I will..." Dean's patting his shoulder.

.

"We don't even know where to look or what to find there..." Sam asks once sitting in the car.

"We'll think of something on the way..." Dean just answers, putting on the radio.

.

A few blocks from Jefferson City town centre, they park the Impala on a side road following the river.

Sam is reading the book Bobby gave him, taking notes; while Dean is preparing their gears.

"You've been quiet..." Sam says.

"Just getting ready..." Dean mumbles.

"I'm sure she's fine, Dean."

"Who?"

"Stop pretending you don't understand!" Dean stays silent, continuing to ruffle in the trunk.

Suddenly, turning another page of the book, Sam freezes and focuses on a drawing. He takes a white pencil and starts to duplicate it in a corner of the trunk.

"Hey! What are you doing to my car?" His brothers bursts out.

"I'm drawing one of those devil's traps... So, Demons won't get through it or inside it..."

"So?"

"So, we have a place to hide the Colt while we go get Dad..."

"What are you talking about?... We're bringing it with us!"

"Can't do that, Dean... We only got three bullets left... We can't just use them on any Demon... I want THE Demon!"

"No, we have it to save Dad, Sam!"

"Do you know how pissed he would be if we used all the bullets?"

"I don't care what Dad wants!... Since when do you care what he wants, huh?" Dean yells.

"We wanna kill this Demon! And I though you too... They are expecting us to bring it. They get it and they will kill us all. That Colt is our only leverage and you know it!... We cannot have the gun with us, Dean..."

"Fine!" Dean finally resigned.

"I'm Serious, man..."

"I said 'fine', Sammy!" He throws the Colt inside the trunk and Sam finishes his drawings.

.

They leave the car, after being sure it was totally locked and Demon sealed and walk towards the city.

All of a sudden, Dean's phone rings. He looks at the number who called and doesn't recognise it. "Who is this?"

"Dean... Dean... It's Eli..." The line is very bad, full of interferences.

"Eli?... Where the hell are you?"

"I don't... much time... You know how many... had to walk to... stupid pay phone!... Whatever... I'm in Jeffers... City, Missouri..." The line is slowly fading away.

"Eli!... We're in Jefferson too... Where are you?"

"Meet me at the... Cafe's on Main..."

"What Cafe?... Say again..."

"Joe's... It's Joe's on Main..."

"Do you know where Dad is?"

"Come to... know... fast..."

"What? Eli?... Joe's Cafe on Main... We're heading there now!" He hears the occupied tone, the line just died. "Let's go!" He says with finally a little smile on his face, which made Sam smile too.

.

Arriving in Main Street, they easily spot Joe's Cafe, with his huge frontage representing a funny dog drinking a huge mug of coffee. They enter the place, looking left and right. Eli seems not to be there yet. They sit in the back, Dean facing the entrance door, his leg trembling nervously.

"We'll have to check if she's not possessed..." Sam comes slowly.

"Yeah! I tough of that." The waitress arrives to take their order. "Coffee, black, please... And a glass of water..."

"Coffee for me too… Thank you..." Sam adds.

She quickly serves the two men; smiling in a coquettish way to Dean, that surprisingly doesn't notice. He empties half of the glass of water in the plant pot next to them and replaces it by holy water from a flack he gets out of his jacket.

Eli finally enters the place and sits next to Sam. "Guys, you cannot imagine how happy I am to see you... This was a hell of a trip all along!"

"Here, have some water... You want me to order something else for you?" Dean says, holding the glass out to her.

"Yeah! I'm starving... Didn't eat since we left you guys in Salvation!..." She takes it and drinks avidly from it, the two brothers staring at her. Nothing happens. "What? Why are you staring at me like that?"

"Hum... We thought you were... You know... No news and all..." Sam shyly tries.

"I had to ditch my phone to trace them... Everything went so fast... Not really time to make sophisticated plans..." Dean looks at her with a question mark on his face. "But first things first... Can we order something to go?... Like a cheeseburger and fries?... Think I earn that!"

"Is Dad still alive?" Dean couldn't wait any more.

"I think so... They brought him here alive at least..."

"So, you know where he is?"

"Yes... But, it's going to be complicated... They keep him in an apartment complex, three blocks away from here, called the Sunrise..."

"Let's check on it right now..." Dean says already paying their orders.


	37. Chapter 36

Chapter 36

In front of the Sunrise complex, the trio is spying, hidden behind bushes across the street. Kids are playing hopscotch on the side walk.

"Pretty smart... A whole building full of human shields..." Dean says, taking his binoculars out of his shoulder bag.

"Told you it would be complicated..." Eli adds.

"What do you think, Dean?... Can't we just enter and check the apartments?" Sans asks.

"Not knowing who is a Demon and who is a human... Nan, bad move... How did you find this building anyway, Eli?"

"I followed them here... I was on the warehouse's roof at the meeting point with Meg and heard a part of their conversation... She was accompanied by a second Demon, a guy. When John hand them the gun, he shot Meg with it... So, they knew quiet directly it was a fake... The Demon guy seems pretty much more powerful than Meg, by the way..."

"Meg is gone, by the way..." Dean ironically says.

"You wasted her?"

"Exorcised her, if the exact term..."

"Demon can possess real people, is that what I have to understand?"

"Yep!..." Dean's checking every window of the building.

"That makes more sense why they brought him in an apartment complex…"

"Yep!..."

"And then..." Sam asks Eli, eager to know the rest of her story.

"Not sure that John could make it out of there; I decided to stay on the roof, where I had the best view on the whole area... I saw him going for his pickup and then leaving again... And the Demon guy smashed your father on the wall a little bit further down the premise... I was practically sure they would take him with them, to have some leverage on you, Guys... I checked for cars in the neighbourhood... There was only one and the EMF proved it was theirs... The only thing I had in my pockets was my phone... I engaged the GPS signal and hide it in it just before they arrive... I vanished in a sewer till they get away."

"Not too bad for a debutante..." Dean grins.

"Dean, come on..." Sam warns him gently.

"I went to the pickup and understood why John left it there... The four tires were slashed... So, I called a tow truck..."

"Why bothering?... Why wasting your time?..." Dean says.

"I needed the guns and the material, Idjit... You really think that I could arrive here naked as a new born?... You know how many of those creatures are surrounding this area?... And why did you think I ditched my phone in their car, huh?... Damned!" She suddenly burst, tired of Dean's constant disagreeable remarks.

"All right!... All right!... You both, take a deep breathe now..." Sam tries to calm them down. "You followed them with the GPS signal, Eli?..." He smiles at her.

"Yeah... I had a 50 miles radius, so I knew I had at least 45 minutes in front of me... And while waiting the tow truck, I already had an idea where they were heading, following them on my laptop... And that brought me here..." Eli continues with some sadness in her tone.

"Why didn't you call us with one of Dad's phones?"

"Because there were none to find, Dean..."

"He must have hidden them somewhere... To be sure no one could trace him or anyone if it went south..." Sam concludes.

"So, we have an unknown numbers of Demons in a building full of humans... Demons that can possess anybody inside... Make anybody attack us when needed... And we can't kill them since they are innocent people..." Dean thinks out loud.

"Not to forget that they probably know what we look like too..." Sam adds.

"They don't know me!" Eli says.

"Too risky… You could be possessed too... Seems that they have that sort of easiness to do so... As what YOUR father could tell us about the subject, Becky!" Dean's continuing in the same attitude against her.

"Oh!... How is he?" She shyly asks.

"Fine... It came as a chock to him knowing you were swinging around with us... He was looking for you and kinda worried too, you know... What in heaven did the guy do to you for vanishing like that?"

"Dude, we can maybe talk about this a bit later... Our main problem for now is how the hell are we gonna get in this building saving Dad?" Sam says. Dean goes a little bit further away to check the back entrance.

"What's with him?... He's on my back like I killed is beloved cat in another life of something." Eli burst out.

"Believe it or not... He was really worried for you... And behind this a-hole attitude of his, he likes you..."

"Yeah! Right..." She grins.

"Pull the fire alarm… Get out all the civilians..." Dean comes back near them.

"Okay, but then the City responds is what? Seven minutes?" Sam asks.

"Seven minutes exactly..." Dean punctuates.

.

Sam goes in the hallway of the building, looking that nobody is around. He hears a door slamming and holds his movement towards the fire alarm. He is pretending going up the stairs till the person leaves the place. He then comes back and quickly pulls the trigger, a bell instantly starts to ring.

People are quietly leaving the building, Firemen already deploying their equipment.

"Hey, what? What's happening? Is it a fire?" Eli asks to one of the fire-fighters.

"We're figuring that out now, Miss... Just stay back, please." He nicely answers.

"Well, I got my little dog upstairs... I was just going for some groceries... I need to get him down..." She continues playing a panicking woman.

"Miss please, you have to stay back..." This time he takes her gently by the arm and accompanies her behind the security perimeter they delineate, giving the opportunity for Sam and Dean to approach the fire truck and open the door where they have their spare suits.

.

A couple, in one of the apartments, is calmly sitting around a table. Hearing the fire alarm, the man is going for the bedroom where tied on the bed, John is laying unconscious. In a distance, the fire engine siren resounds already.


	38. Chapter 37

Chapter 37

The brothers dressed in full firemen's gear; start to check one floor after another with their EMF.

"I always wanted to be a fireman when I grew up..." Dean tells.

"Really? You never told me that..." In front of the apartment 39, the EMF needle goes nuts. "Think we have a winner."

They heavily knock on the door. The woman Demon changes her eyes into black when another round of knocks are heard. "This is the fire department. We need you to evacuate." Dean yells from the other side. She opens the door, but Dean smashes it against her to enter the apartment.

.

In the bottles they carry on their back, they replaced the liquid with holy water.

They generously sprinkle it around the two Demons before starting to fight each one a Demon.

Sam arrives first to overcome the man and throws him in the wardrobe, soon followed by the woman Demon Dean dashes in it. They barricade the door and pour a half circle of salt in front of it.

They get rid of their equipment and start to search the place. They quickly spot their father in the bedroom.

"Dad?" Dean goes close to him. He briefly palpates him, looking for injuries and some signs of life. "He's still breathing... Dad?... Wake up..." He goes for his pocket knife to cut the straps.

"Wait... Wait..." Sam says.

"What?"

"He could be possessed too..."

"Are you nuts?"

"Dean... We gotta be sure... We did it for Eli, remember..." Sam takes a flask of holy water in his bag, opens it and throws some on John's body. Nothing happens, other than him slowly coming out of the blue.

"Sam?... Why are you splashing water on me?" He's slowly opening his eyes.

"Dad, you okay?" Dean asks.

"They've been drugging me... Where's Eli?"

"She's fine... Waiting for us downstairs."

"The Colt?"

"Don't worry, Dad... It's safe too..." Sam answers.

"Good boys... Good boys..." He whispers with a smile.

.

Downstairs, one of the firemen explains by walkie-talkie that no fire was been found in the Sunrise building and that it probably was a false alarm. People are gathered on the side of the road, lurking the scene. One tall black guy suddenly shivers and his eyes turn into black. He moves towards the firemen. "Hey, buddy... You can't go in yet." He tells him, touching the guy's arm. Instantly, the eyes of the fireman turn to black too. Both are entering the building.

Eli, watching the two men, instantly understands. She runs at the back of the building and enters it from one of the basement windows. She goes up the stairs four at the time to the second floor, listening for footsteps. They are just one floor above her. "Hey, you guys... I already warned them... They're long gone, suckers!" She yells laughing at them. The two Demons stop in the middle of the hallway. She attacks the tall black guy by giving a kick at the back of his knees, making him falling on the floor, but he quickly raises back up, pushing her violently away. It's Eli's turn to falls on the ground. "Dean!... Sam!... Get out of there!" She screams again as she sees the firemen axe's attacking the apartment door. She goes up and breaks the glass from the fire hose box, unrolling it and opens the water vane, spraying at the two Demons. The black guy comes for her again; she swings the hose to hit him full force in the face. He barely makes a step aside. She drops everything and rushes for the stairs, trying to escape, but the man is faster and knocks her out in just one movement of this hand. She hurtles down a flight of stairs.

.

Sam and Dean are carrying their father out of the bedroom, when they hear Eli's screaming in the hallway and see the fireman axe going through the front door.

"Back... Back... Back..." Dean yells to his brother, backing up to the bedroom again. Sam quickly spreads salt in front of it, while Dean is opening the window in front of the the fire escape stairs. He helps his father to climb through it, Sam joining them and salting the windowpane.

The three men arrive safely on the side-walk. "Go get Eli…" John whispers to Dean. He directly runs around the building but something makes him stop. He slowly walks backwards, his hands in the air. Sam and John raising their gaze to see Meg's Demon accomplice holding Eli by the neck.

"You give me that gun or she'll die instantly…" He furiously says.

Dean is still making steps back, hoping that the Demon will follow him till having Sam just a step behind him. Not hesitating, the youngest tackles both of them on the floor. The Demon loses his grip, giving the opportunity for Eli to escape. Dean rushes to the Demon that is now heavily beating up Sam, but with a slight movement of his hand, he sends the oldest flying in a windshield of a parked car. Eli wants to enter the fight, but John catches her hand. "Stay here… My boys can handle him…" A shoot echoes, the Demon suddenly stopping his beating, a hole in his temple, his eyes wide open and his body glowing. Just a few seconds later he collapses on the asphalt. Dean still shaking from the impact against the car, slowly lowers the smoking Colt.

.

In the middle of a wood, the Impala is parked in front of an abandoned cabin.

Sam is salting all doors and windows, his face showing bruises from the fight.

At the back of the small house, in a what so called 'bathroom', Dean is taking care of Eli. She has a nasty cut on the arch of her eyebrow. "Awoutch!…" She whines.

"Don't be such a wuss!... It's just a small cut… Not even needing stitches…"

"Why are you so mad at me?"

"I ain't mad…" He stops swabbing the wound for a moment. "I was… Okay, I'm sorry… I shouldn't act like I did… I was worried and focused and edgy and everything in between… Is that making you feel better?"

"No… Not an inch…"

"What do you want me to say, Eli!" He suddenly raises his voice.

"I… Oh, nothing… Forget it…" She whispers, her eyes down on the floor

"You better call Bobby to tell him you're all right…" He says, calmer.

"Yeah! I will… Go check on your Dad now… I'll take care of the rest…" She turns her back on him, looking her damaged face in the wobbly old mirror hanging with just a nail. He hesitates for a moment and then left, closing the door behind him.


	39. Chapter 38

Chapter 38

Dean comes out of the bedroom. "How is Dad?" Sam asks him.

"He just needs a little rest, that's all."

"And Eli?"

"Other than a headache and a cut on her eyebrow, she's fine too… How are you?"

"I'll survive… Hey, you don't think we were followed here, do you?"

"I don't know… I hope not… I mean, we couldn't find a more out-of-the-way place to hole up, right?"

"Yeah… Dean?... You… Hum… You saved my life back there…"

"So, I guess you're glad I bought the gun, huh?"

"Man, I'm trying to thank you here… Why are you doing this all the time?"

"Do what?"

"Like nothing is affecting you… Like you never showing any emotions… You're just wearing that sort of a-hole armour… Showing your feelings is not a sign of weakness, you know… None of us will have any less admiration or gratitude… We know that you're doing your very best for us…"

"Sammy, I don't wanna talk about this, okay… You really want to know what is bothering me right now?... I'm still thinking about that guy I shot… Knowing that there was a person in there…"

"You didn't have a choice, Dean."

"Yeah, I know… But, killing that guy… Killing Meg… I didn't hesitate, didn't even flinch… And that is scaring me sometimes…"

"It shouldn't…" John says coming out of the room. "You did good…"

"You're not mad?" Dean asks, facing him.

"For what?"

"Using a bullet…"

"Mad? I'm proud of you… You know, Sam and I, we can get pretty obsessed… But you… You watch out for this family… You always have…" John softly smiles.

"Thanks…" Dean shyly says.

.

The lights start flickering and the wind's blowing outside. "Damned!... It found us… It's here…" John comes, looking all around.

"The Demon?"

"Sam… Lines of salt, in front of every window, every door…" His father immediately orders.

"I already did it…"

"Well check it, okay?"

"Okay…" Sam leaves the room.

"Dean, you got the gun?"

"Yeah…"

"Give it to me…"

"Sam tries to shot the Demon in Salvation and it vanished…" Dean explains.

"This is me… I won't miss… Now, the gun… Hurry!" Dean has the Colt in his hand. He is looking at it, hesitating. He watch at his father, his eyes suddenly hardens. "Son, please…" John's holding up his hand towards him. Dean is backing up now. "Give me the gun… What the matter with you?"

"He'd be furious." Dean murmurs.

"What?"

"That I wasted a bullet… He wouldn't be proud of me. He'd tear me apart." He slowly raises the gun, pulling the trigger and aiming his father. "You're not my Dad!"

"Dean… Come on… It's me…" He calmly says.

"I know my father better than anyone… And you ain't him!"

"What's gotten into you…" John makes two steps towards his son.

"I could ask you the same thing. Stay back!"

.

"Dean, it's not..." Sam screams, rushing into the main room.

"Sammy… Seems your brother's lost his mind…" John tries.

"I don't think so…" Eli answers, entering the room too. "Dean, he is possessed… It's not your Dad... And he played us since you rescued him… I saw his eyes when he was listening to your conversation behind the door... He must have probably think I was not in the bathroom any more... Slight mistake, isn't it?"

"I never do any mistakes, you little snotty-nosed bitch..." He turns back to face Dean. "Boys... Come on... Don't listen to her… Who is she to you, huh?... Who says she's not the possessed one... You know, we don't have time for all this… Kill her!" Sam and Dean look confused for a moment. Maybe their Dad is right; it could be her manipulating everybody. "KILL HER!"

"No…" Sam softly mouth. "I would have felt it… No…" He carefully moves behind Dean taking Eli by the hand.

"Fine… If you're so sure… Go ahead… Shot me, then!" John's lowering his head, as resigned to die. But, Dean don't have the strength to shoot, knowing his father is still somewhere in there. "I thought so..." The Demon comes, his voice suddenly lowering and his eyes changing into yellow.

Sam goes to attack him, but an invisible force is smashing him against the wall. Dean flies on the other side, letting the Colt drop from his hand. Eli wants to take it, but she's also pinned next to Sam.

The Demon grabs the gun, admiring it. "What a pain in the ass this thing's been!" He devilishly smiles.

"We've been looking for you a long time…" Sam says.

"Well, you found me…"

"But, the Holy water…"

"You think something so little would work on something as powerful as me?" The Demon laughs

Sam tries to force himself away from the wall. "I'm gonna kill you!"

"Oh, that would be a neat trick… In fact, here…" He puts the gun on the corner of the table. "Make the gun float to you, psychic boy!" He mocks him. The youngest starts to concentrate on the gun.


	40. Chapter 39

Chapter 39

Eli slowly manages to turn her head to face Sam, staring intensively at him. He suddenly hears her voice in his head. "Don't try to move the gun, it won't… We both have to turn our minds to reach John's… Helping him to overcome the Demon just for a few seconds… Nod if you hear me…" Sam slowly nods a 'yes'.

"You know, this is fun actually… I could've killed you a hundred times today, but this… This is worth the wait!" The Demon continues. "Your Dad, he's in here with me… Trapped inside his own meat suit… He says 'hi', by the way… He's gonna tear you apart… He's gonna taste the iron in your blood… Loads of fun's coming!"

"Let him go… Or I swear to God…" Dean murmurs.

"Or what? What are you and God gonna do, huh? You see, as far as I'm concerned, this is only justice…"

"Don't listen to what he says, Sam… Continue to focus…" Eli's still speaking in his mind.

The Demon approaches Dean. "You know that little exorcism of yours? That was my daughter…"

"Who? Meg?"

"And the one in the alley… That was my boy… You understand?" He explains in between his teeth.

"You gotta be kidding me…"

"What? You're the only one that can have a family?... You destroyed my children, Dean!… How would you feel if I killed your family?... Oh, that's right!... I forgot, I already started…"

"You son of a bitch!... I wanna know why!... Why did you do it?" Dean asks, still strongly pinned on the wall.

"You know, I never told you this, but Sam was going to ask Jessy to marry him… Been shopping for rings and everything…" He approaches Sam and Eli, turning her face on the other side. "So, in fact, never-bride-beauty-queen and your little mummies, they got in the way… In my way…"

"In your way to what?" Sam asks.

"My plans for you, my dear ones… You, her and all of the children like you…"

"Listen, you mind just getting this over with? Cause I really can't stand the monologue any more…" Dean tries to draw the Demon attention on him again.

"Funny… So typical of your M.O., isn't it Dean? Masks all that nasty pain… Masks the truth… Masks your emotions… You know, you fight on and on for this family, but the real truth is… They don't need you… Not like you need them… Sam is clearly John's favourite… And now there's sweet Elisabeth in the mix… Both under John's wings… No place for Dean any more… So, what the heck... Let him do the fighting, let him go through all the trouble… Let him think we all love him so much!"

"I'll bet you are really proud of your kids too, huh?... Oh, wait, I forgot… I wasted them!" Dean smirks. The Demon lowers his gaze for a second and raises it again, making Dean scream. He starts to bleed from his shoulder.

"Dean!" Sam yells.

"No… Stop it…" Eli pleads.

"Dad… Dad… Don't let it kill him!" The youngest calls his father out. Dean's pain hardens, blood pouring out of this mouth now.

Slowly, Eli's hand arrives to shuffle to Sam's. She manages to place it over his. He understands what she wants to try out. They both concentrate on John's mind.

"Dad, please…" Dean whispers just before he faints.

"Sam, stay focus…" Eli starts to bleed from her nose, wincing at a searing headache. "It's the only way…"

Suddenly, John's eyes return to normal. "Stop… Stop it" He whispers, the three falling together on the floor. Eli, on her knees, tries to catch her breath and some energy, before joining Dean. Sam runs for the gun, grabs it and just in time aims his father that the Demon controls again.

"You kill me… You kill Daddy…" The Demon menaces.

"I know…" Sam disdainfully says. He slowly lowers the gun and shoots in John's leg, making him fall on the floor.

.

Eli rips out a piece of her shirt and presses it against Dean's shoulder wound.

Sam comes closer to them. "Dean… Hey…"

"He lost a lot of blood… We need to bring him to a hospital" Eli advises him.

"Where's Dad?" Dean whispers.

"He's right there…"

"Go check on him!" He orders his younger brother, trying to get up.

"You stay down… Don't move… I go get something to better protect your wound and try to stop the bleeding." She goes for her duffel to take some of her fresh T-shirts. She rips of Dean's shirt and applies the clean cloth on the wound. As she puts more pressures on it, Dean winces.

"Dad?" Sam softly comes.

"Sammy, it's still alive" John suddenly yells, making the youngest jump a bit. "It's inside me. I can feel it. Just shoot me!... You shoot me in the heart, Son!" Sam pulls the trigger again and slowly aims at his father. "Do it now!"

"Sam… Don't… Don't you do it!..." Dean wanting to raise again, Eli tries to hold him down as much as possible.

"You gotta hurry. I can't hold onto it much longer… Just shoot me, Son… We can end this, here and now!... Sammy!" John's still screaming.

"Sam… No…" Dean not having enough strength left to voice any more. Eli, in total panic, doesn't know what to do. Her gaze goes from Dean to Sam to John and then back to Dean. "Stop him, Eli… Please… You gotta stop him…"

"I don't know, Dean… I really don't know…" Tears rolling down her face.

"You do this!... Sammy!" John begs him one last time.

But Sam finally lowers the gun and a dark black smoke pours out of John's mouth, disappearing in between the slits of the wooden floor.

.

Sam is driving the car as fast as it can on the road.

Eli holds Dean in her arms in the back seat. "Dean?" She softly shakes him.

"What?"

"You don't die on me, you hear me?" She whispers, full of tears in her eyes.

"Why? You gonna miss me?" Dean smirks.

"Will you please stop joking around for once… Just this once… I'm serious. You don't leave me, okay?... Or I swear I'm gonna find a way to give your spirit a hard time!" She tries to smile.

"Oh for sure, I can count on you for that!... But, I'll do my best to stay, Sweetheart!"

John, sitting next to his youngest son, is also fighting against the pain.

"Look, just hold on, all right? The hospital's only ten minutes away." Sam says.

"I'm surprised at you, Sammy… Why didn't you kill it? I thought we agreed on this. Killing the Demon comes first. Before me… Before everything…"

"No, Sir… Not before everything… Look, we still got the Colt with one bullet left…. We found the bastard once…I'm sure will find him again…"

.

Suddenly, the car is violently hit by a huge truck. It drags the Impala out of the road, not even braking. On the steering wheel, the driver has black eyes.


	41. Chapter 40

Chapter 40

The truck driver comes out of his cab and walks towards the wracked Impala. He looks inside, takes the handle in one hand and the rear-view mirror in the other and snatches out the door. Sam is aiming him with the Colt. "Get back or I swear to God I'll shoot." He warns.

"No, you won't… You're saving that bullet for someone else!" The possessed man answers.

"You wanna bet?" Sam pulls the trigger and raises the gun a little bit.

The man starts to scream and a black smoke comes out of his mouth. He falls on the ground on all fours. "Oh, my God! Did I do that?" He poor driver says, standing back up again.

"Dad?... Dean?... Eli?..." Sam is asking around, but nobody answers him.

.

It's broad daylight when the paramedics are on the crash site.

"Back seat passenger… Male… Unresponsive… BP: 180 over 50… Heart rate…" One of the rescuers lists to the first doctor, while carrying Dean in the chopper.

"...BP: 100 over 50… Heart rate 99, 95…" Another first aider says, bringing John.

"...Female… Unconscious… BP: 150 over 50… Heart rate 100…" A third one explains, taking Eli to the second helicopter.

"Tell me if they're okay…" Sam tries to yell over the noise.

"You have to stay still, Sir…" A hospital-porter orders him, pushing him back on the stretcher.

"Please… Are they at least alive?..."

.

A nurse is walking in the hallway of the hospital, reading a patient file. In the room she just passes by, Dean wakes up, rising from his bed. He winces when going on his feet. Testing his balance he does one step, everything seems normal. He goes for the corridor, nobody's around. "Sam?... Dad?... Eli?..." He quietly voices. "Anybody?" He says a little bit louder. He continues his walk and comes near some stairs. He goes down.

"Shiloh County, Nurses' Station?... How can I help you?..." He hears a woman answering a phone. "Of course, I'll transfer your call…" Dean spots a desk on the floor below.

"Excuse me?... Hi… I think I was in a car accident… With my Dad, my brother and my friend Eli… I just need to find them…" He asks the nurse. As she does not react to his request, he snaps his fingers in front of her eyes. "Hello?"

Immediately sensing something is wrong, he goes back to his room. There, he discovers himself, unconscious, still laying in the bed, a tube coming out of his mouth, helping him to breath and another one in his arm, linked to a plasma bag hanging above of his head. "I'm a freaking spirit?..." He slowly mouths.

.

Sam arrives in Dean's room. Apart from some bruises and scratches on his face, he is already dressed and does not need to be hospitalised. He approaches his brother's bed.

"Sammy, you look good… Considering…" Dean's spirit says.

"Oh, no…" Sam whispers, coming closer.

"Man, tell me you can hear me… How's Dad?... Come on! You're the psychic… Maybe I should see after Eli's… With her mind travelling thing… Do you know where she is?" The elder's trying to communicate.

"You're father is awake." A doctor comes in the room. "You can go see him, if you like…"

"Doc, what about my brother?"

"Well, he sustained serious injury… Blood loss, contusions to his liver and kidney. But, it's the head trauma I'm worried about. There're early signs of cerebral oedema…"

"Well, what can we do?"

"We won't know his full condition until he wakes up… If… He wakes up."

"If?"

"I have to be honest with you…"

"Screw you, Doc… I'm waking up, okay?" Dean intervenes.

"… Most people with this type of injuries wouldn't have survived this long. He's fighting very hard. But, you need to stay realistic, Son…" The doctor finishes.

"Come on, Sam… Go find some Hoodoo priest to lay some mojo on me… And I'll be fine!"

.

"All right… Here, give them my insurance…" John says to his youngest son, handing him one of his plastic cards from his wallet.

"Elroy McGillicuddy?" Sam's wondering how his Dad could come up with such an awkward name.

"And his two loving sons…" His father smiles. "Did you call Bobby?"

"Yeah! He's on its way… About one hour out."

"How is Eli?"

"The doctor told me that aside from some cracked ribs, she's seems okay… They are doing a control MRI to be sure she does not have any internal bleeding… She'll be here in a while…"

"Good… So, what else did the doctor say about Dean?"

"Nothing… Look, if the traditional medicine can't help him then we'll have to… I don't know… I'll find some… Hoodoo priest and lay some mojo on him." He spontaneously answers.

"We'll look for someone… But Sam, I don't know if we'll find anyone."

"I've found that faith healer before…"

"All right, that was one in a million…"

"So what?" Sam's starting to get irritated.

"I'd said we'd look… Under every stone if we have to… Where's the Colt?"

"Your Son is dying and you're worried about that damn Colt?"

"We're still hunting this Demon, Sammy… And maybe it's hunting us too now… That gun may be our only card…" John calmly explains.

"It's in the trunk… They've dragged the car to a yard..."

"You gotta clean out that trunk before some junk-man sees what's inside."

"I already told Bobby about it… He'll take care of it… He's gonna tow the Impala back to his place… After he has seen his daughter, if you don't mind…" Sam says with some sarcasm in his voice.

"Yeah, sure… All right… You meet up with him... And you bring me that Colt… Watch out for hospital security."

"I think I got it covered…" Sam's ready to leave the room.

"Oh, and… Here… I made up a list of things I need… Have Bobby pick them up…"

"What's this stuff for?"

"Protection…"

"Dad?... The Demon said he had plans for Eli and I… He also talked about other children like us… Any idea what he meant by that?"

"I'm sorry, Son… But no, I don't."


	42. Chapter 41

Chapter 41

A nurse pushes a wheelchair with Eli sitting in it.

"Hi, Guys…" She says smilling.

"Hey… So?..." Sam asks her, taking the chair from the medic, mouthing her thanks.

"The MRI shows zero bleeding, but they advised me to drive in this baby for a couple of days. They want me to stay in observation too, since I passed away in the accident… Just to be totally sure… Where's Dean?... I couldn't find his room yet…" John and Sam are looking at each other. "What?" She comes suddenly worried.

"He is still unconscious… The doctor is quiet reserved concerning his condition… We have to be patient, Angel…" John softly tells her.

"I need to see him… Right now… Is it possible?"

"Sure… I'll bring you to his room… I'll have some stuff to do out of here..." Sam says, pushing her wheelchair in the hallway.

They enter Dean's room. Eli is a bit shocked to see him like that.

"Your Dad is on its way… He's worried and wants to see you, Eli… Is that all right with you?" Sam gently asks.

"Yeah!... Yeah!.. Sure…" She answers absent-mindedly. "I'd like to stay here for a moment…"

"Sure..." He approaches her chair next to Dean's bed. She places a hand on his forearm.

.

When Sam goes out of the hospital, he sees Bobby arriving. The two men hug each other.

"How's everybody?" The old man asks, as they both go back inside the building. Sam briefly advises him of the situation. He leads him to Dean's room where Eli is watching over him. "Oh... Becky…" He kneels next to her.

"Dad… I'm so… So sorry… For everything…" She says, starting to cry and taking her father in her arms.

"It's okay, cupcake… It's okay…We'll discuss everything out later… What matters now, is for you all to recover." He delicately brushes away her tears with his thumbs, kissing her forehead. He raises and presses Dean's hand in his. "And you buddy, hang on in there!"

"Bobby… We have to go…" Sam gently warns him.

"Yeah… Sweetie, you stay here… We have to get the stuff out of the car… I'll be back as soon as we finished… OK?"

"OK, Dad…"

.

At the yard, Sam and Bobby are looking at what's left of the Impala.

"Oh man, Dean's gonna be so pissed…" Sam desperately says.

"I'd say we empty the trunk and sell the rest for scrap." Bobby making the round of the wreck.

"No… Dean would kill me if we did that… When he gets better, he for sure would gonna fix it…"

"There is nothing to fix, Sam… Frame's a pretzel… Engine is ruined… You'll find barely a part worth salvaging."

"Bobby, if there's only one working part, that's enough. We're not just gonna give up on it…"

"Okay then… You got it…"

"Here… Dad asked if you could get this stuff for him."

"What's John want with this?"

"Protection from the Demon." Bobby makes a side look. "What?"

"Nothing… It's just…"

"Just what, Bobby?..."

.

John is now sitting in front of Eli, on the other side of Dean's bed.

"Don't worry… He's strong…" She softly says.

"Come on, Dad… You gotta help me… You haven't called a soul for help… Not even tried… Are you gonna sit there and watch me die! " Dean's spirit bitterly voices. Eli is shaking her head, like she wanted to get rid of something bothering her. He suddenly hears a shuffling sound coming from the hallway. "What the hell was that?"

He passes near Eli, making her shiver. She raises her gaze, looking behind her. "I thought I…" She starts to say, but seeing nothing, she turns her head back to the unconscious body on the bed.

Dean goes out of the room, just when a grey shadow's flying by him. "Suppose you didn't see that." He says to the two in his room. "Okay, don't bother… I'll check on it."

.

Dean walks along the corridor, checking every open door. Passing one of the rooms, he feels something brushing past right behind him. He turns around to see the thing floating through another door. He follows it. There is a nurse shocking on the floor. "Hey! I need some help in here!" He screams, but no one hears him. And it's powerless that he sees the woman dying in front of his eyes.

.

Sam and Bobby returns to the hospital.

"I'm gonna check on Eli… Sam, take it easy on your Dad, will ya?" The older man says.

"I'll try…" He answers briskly, leaving him to see his father.

Bobby enters his daughter's room. "How are you holding up, cupcake?"

"Not too bad... But, it more Dean I'm worried about. Doc said he might not wake up." She sadly says.

"Hey... He's gonna be okay..." He sits on Eli's bed, putting his arm around her.

"So, you're not mad at me any more?"

"I was not mad... Well, yeah a little bit knowing you wanted to become a hunter like me... But, understand I wanted to protect you from all this."

"Dad, someone gotta do it... And I'll do it for mum, even if I didn't knew her... I'll do it because I don't know who I really am. For years, I knew I was different and I rebelled against nearly everything... But, now that I know that Sam and others are like me, I'd like to understand what it is... And get rid of anything evil that could be inside of us..."

"Damn, you matured since last time I saw you... You never talked to me like that before."

"Because I was just ignorant and I suppose you were too..." They hear screams coming from the other room. "What the hell now..." She goes out of bed, followed by Bobby.

.

Sam crosses the hallway and enters his father's room.

Dean's spirit is also in the room. "Sam, please tell me you can hear this. There's something in the hospital. We gotta hunt this thing… Sam?"

"You're quiet…" John comes.

"Think I wouldn't find out?" Flinging the duffel he was carrying on the table.

"What are you talking about?"

"That stuff, you don't use it to ward off a Demon… You use it to summon one!... You plan on bringing it here? Making a final macho showdown or something?"

"I have a plan, Sam…"

"That's exactly my point. Dean is dying and you have a plan!... You care more about killing this demon that saving your own son!" Sam yells so hard that Bobby and Eli could hear it from her room.

"Do not tell me how I feel! I'm doing this for Dean!"

"How? How is revenge gonna help him? You're not thinking about anybody but yourself! It's that same selfish obsession of yours!" Bobby and Eli are entering the room at that moment.

"I thought it was your obsession too. This Demon killed your mother. Killed your girlfriend… You begged me to be part of this hunt… Now, if you killed it when you had the chance, none of this would've happened!" John's screaming too now.

"It was possession you!... It would've killed you too!"

"And your brother would be awake, right now!"

"Shut up right now, both of you!" Eli and Dean shout out at the same time, both freezing in surprise. The three other men in the room suddenly quiet down, staring at Eli.


	43. Chapter 42

**Sorry Guys to have let you alone for a few days, but I was abroad and no computer in hand.**

**So, here 2 new chapters... Enjoy.**

**And thank you for all of you that are following this story... Peace ;-)**

Chapter 42

"Eli? You can frigging hear me?" Dean slowly asks.

"Becky, are you all right?... You're pale as a ghost…" Bobby says, putting a hand on her shoulder.

"Say that again?" She voices out loud.

"You are pale as…" Her father repeats.

"Not you, Dad…" She makes a move with her hand to ask everybody to stay quiet.

"Dean, was that you in my head?"

"Yes!… Yes!… Thank God… Finally someone can hear me!" Dean says relieved.

"I can hear him!" Eli happily claims to the others.

"What?... Who?" Sam questions with a strange look on his face.

"Dean is here… In the room…" She gets exited.

"You mean Dean as in a spirit Dean?"

"Oh sweetheart, I promise that as soon as I wake up, I'll make it up to you..." Dean wanting to hug Eli, but he passes right through her. She starts to blush.

"What did he say?" Sam asks.

"Nothing for the moment..." She lies, smiling.

But suddenly, Dean drops on his knees, feeling weak. "Eli, something goes wrong here…" He whispers out of breath.

"Wait... Something's wrong, he says." She tells the others.

They all hear voices in the hallway going louder. A nurse is running in the corridor.

Sam goes checking and sees people rushing into Dean's room.

.

Sam arrives at the moment where the doctor puts the reanimation pallets on his brother's chest.

"All clear!" He pushes the red buttons to releases the electrical impulses.

"Still no pulse..." The nurse says after checking the monitors.

"No, please... No..." Sam whispers, watching from the door.

"Let's go again... 360."

"Charging..."

"All clear!" A second waves lifts Dean's body from the bed.

Eli arrives on foot next to Sam, Dean's spirit behind her. Tears are slowly forming in her eyes. "You promised me you would not die on me." She softly mouth.

The doctor is still trying to reanimate Dean. His spirit sees the grey shadow floating above his body, coming closer. "You get the hell away from me... Stay back..." He yells approaching the thing.

"There is something with him in the room, he says" Eli taking Sam's arm.

"Something?... Like what?"

"I said get back!" Dean still screaming.

"Let's starts CPR..." The doctor orders the nurses around him.

"He is pissed and tries to stop something from happening..." Eli feels suddenly dizzy and her nose starts to bleed. "The grey shadow..." She whispers as she faints.

"Eli?" Sam catches her before she hits the floor as Dean's hart start to beat again.

"We have a pulse... Back into sinus rhythm..." The nurse advises.

"Doc, think I might need some help here too..." The youngest says, a little bit overtaken by the simultaneous events.

"Bring her back to her room, I'm coming." The doctor orders after having checked Dean's vitals again.

.

Eli wakes up a few minutes later.

"You rest now... I'll ask a nurse to give you a light relaxing pill." The doctor gently pats her arm before leaving the room.

Bobby is waiting in the hallway.

"Doc? Is her blackout still related to the accident? Is she still in danger?" He asks the medic.

"No... Your daughter just thinks that she is stronger than she really is... She needs to stay still for a few days and not wandering around like nothing happened to her... Rest is the remedy she needs."

"Yeah, just try to tell a bulimic to eat reasonably..." He mutters into his beard.

"Excuse-me?"

"Nothing... I'll do my best to put some senses in her... Thanks, Doc..." He enters his daughter's room.

"Dad, I need to see Sam... Right now..." She says already trying to come out of her bed. "Something is after Dean and it seems it wants to kill him... I mean, really wants him dead..."

"And the Doc says you need to manage yourself a little bit..." He's gently pushing her back to lay down. "And since when do you hear voices?"

"Dad, it's a very long story... Could you please find Sam for me and send him here?" Bobby pouts, but goes out the room.

.

"How is he?" Eli asks as soon as Sam is next to her.

"Stable for now... So, you can hear Dean?... Is he here now?"

"I can hear him... Not see him, Sam!" She corrects.

"Okay... Is he saying anything right now, then?"

"No, because you don't stop talking..." She mocks him a bit.

"Oh... Sorry..." He shyly smiles.

"It's some kind of spirit... But, I could grab it. And if I can grab it... I can kill it..." She repeats nearly at the same time as Dean says it.

"So, there is something in this hospital... You said 'grey shadow' before you fainted, Eli..."

"That's what Dean called it... And he wants to find it..."

"On his own?" Sam goes worried.

"He just wants to know what it is and what it is doing here... Dean, be careful!"

"He's gone?"

"It seems... I feel a bit like Joanne of Arc!" She softly laughs.

"Hey... I won't let anyone burn you alive, I promise!" Sam smiling too.

"I guess I will stay tuned, till he comes back... Doc orders me to stay put."

"I'll come checking on you in a few... I'd like to stay with Dean in his room..." He kisses her forehead as she nods a 'yes'.


	44. Chapter 43

Chapter 43

Dean inspects the whole hospital. He arrives on a floor he's never been before when he hears someone screaming.

"Can't you hear me? Why won't you look at me?" A young woman voices around people passing her by.

"Now what?" He approaches. "Can you see me?" He tries out to her.

She turns around. "Yeah!" She says so what relieved.

"Hi... Just calm down... What's your name?"

"Tessa..."

"Okay good, Tessa... I'm Dean."

"What's happening to me? Am I dead?"

"That sort of depends." He brings her back to her own room.

"I don't understand. I just came in for an appendectomy."

"I hate to bear bad news... But, I think there were some complications."

"It's just a dream. That's all! This is just a very weird... Unbelievably vivid dream..."

"Tessa... Sorry but... It's not a dream..."

"What else could it be?"

"You ever heard of an out-of-body experience?"

"What are you? Some New Age guru?"

"You see me playing with crystals or listening to Yanni?... It's actually a very old idea. It's got a lot of different names: Bi-location, crisis apparitions, mind travelling... I think it's happening to us... And if it is means we're spirits of people close to death."

"So, we're gonna die?"

"No... Not if we hold on... Our bodies can get better, you can snap back in there and wake up..."

"How do you know all this stuff?"

"I red a lot about it recently... Since, my... Let's just say that I know someone that experienced some weird stuff..."

.

"Eli can really hear Dean talking in her head?" John asks Sam.

"Yep!"

"Dean is a spirit?... But, he isn't dead... How could that be..." Bobby questions.

"He is a sort of spirit... It's like Eli having the ability to travel in other people's minds. So, I suppose Dean as a out-of-body experience. And she must be sensitive to that kinda frequency or something... And now retrospectively, I must say that I also felt like someone was there next to me at certain moments... And it felt like him..." Sam explains to the tow older men.

"And he's on a hunt against a grey shadow?"

"That's what he told Eli, Dad..." The youngest shrugs.

.

"I gotta say... I'm impressed." Dean says to Tessa.

"With what?"

"You... Most people in your spot would be demoralised by the news... But you're taking this pretty well. Maybe a little better than me."

"Don't get me wrong. I was pretty freaked at first. But now, I don't know. I'm dealing I suppose."

"So, you're okay with dying?"

"No, of course not. I just think, whatever is gonna happen, it's out of my control. It's just fate."

"Huh! Now, that's crap! You always have a choice. You can roll over and die or keep fighting."

"Dr Kripke, room 237... Code blue.. Dr Kripke..." A voice coming from the corridor inter-phone.

Dean follows where the nurses are running to.

"Dean, where are you going?" Tessa asks.

"Just wait here..."

He arrives in a room of a 6 or 7 year old child. The grey shadow is bending over the kid's body, laying a hand on his forehead and then vanishes.

"Time of death, 5:11 PM." The doctor says in the room.

.

Sam is back in Eli's room. She's asleep. He takes a chair and sits next to her bed, taking her hand in his.

"Hi..." She softly mouth.

"Oh, sorry... I didn't want to wake you up..."

"It's alright, they give me some stuff to relay... And I must have felt asleep... I hate to stay like this, Sam. I feel useless."

"Don't say that... But, you need to recover... Is Dean around?"

"Radio Silence for now... Sam, please try to find my wheelchair and lets go back to Dean's room... I... I'd like to stay close to him... I mean, see him..."

"Doc will be pissed..."

"I don't care... I'll take it on me... Please, Sam..." She pleads.

"Okay... Don't move till I'm back!"

.

They both entering Dean's room. "Oh! There you are!..." He says, making Eli shivering again. "I know what it is in this hospital... The Grey Shadow... I don't think it's killing... It's taking them, you know, when their time's just up... I think there's a reaper here." She voices as she hears it.

"A reaper? Is it after Dean?" Sam nervously says.

"Yes..." She answers with a trembling tone.

"If it's here naturally, there's no way to stop it..." Sam coming to that conclusion.

"I'm screwed, Sammy..." Eli lifting her worried eyes to him.

"No, no... There's gotta be a way... Dad will know what to do." Sam is leaving the room.

.

Arriving at his father's room, He just finds an empty bed...


	45. Chapter 44

Chapter 44

John enters the Boiling Room in the basement of the hospital, a duffel hanging on one shoulder, his other arm wrapped in a sling. He wanders around to find an isolated spot. He finally puts down his bag, takes a stick of chalk from a little box and starts to draw enigmatic symbols and signs on the floor.

.

"Dad wasn't in his room." Sam rejoining Eli and Dean.

"Where did he go?" She asks.

The youngest shrugs. "But I took his journal... Who knows? Maybe there's something in it that would help..." He flicks through the pages.

"Dean is thanking us for not giving up on him..." She softly says, lowering her head to hid her sadness.

Sam comes near her and hugs her tight. "Hey... Hey... We have to stay as strong as he is... That's our force... You know, being together and having each other..." She's making an odd face. "What?"

"He just bawls me out... But, the end message was the same as yours!"

He gently smiles, sliding a chair next to her and continue to read in his father journal. "Here... Reapers..."

Dean's spirit looks over Sam's shoulder and starts to read too. He wants to put a hand around Eli's, but just passes through her again. "Damn... I'm still not use to that..." She shivers and smiles as she understood what happened. "Sonnavebitch!" The elder suddenly mutters before leaving the room.

.

"Hi, Dean..." Tessa comes, when Dean arrives in her room. She is sitting in a now empty bed.

"You know... You read the most interesting things... For example, did you know that reapers can alter human perception?... So, basically, they can make themselves appear however they want... Like, say... A pretty young girl!" He explains her.

"I was wondering when you'd figure it out."

"I should have known... That whole 'accepting fate' speech of yours... That easiness you had to deal with everything... But, how did you get to let me see a mother and a real body in that bed, I'm still wondering?"

"I can make you see whatever I want..."

"So, that's your turn-on?... Toying with people?"

"You didn't give me much choice... You saw my true form... And I needed to talk to you..."

"Fine... We're talking... The hell do you want to talk about?"

"How death is nothing to fear... It's your time to go, Dean... You're living on borrowed time already..." She softly says, approaching him.

.

In the boiler room, John finishes to prepare the Demon summoning ritual. He formulates the Latin spell, cutting himself in the palm of his hand, letting drops of blood fall into a black bowl filled with the mix of ingredients he listed for Bobby to gathered earlier. He lights a match and let it fall in the middle; a flame raises from it. He slowly goes up and starts to look around.

Suddenly, a hand is grabbing his shoulder. "What are you doing down here?" A guy from the maintenance staff questions him.

"I can explain..." John starts to say.

"Oh yeah? You gonna explain to security, Buddy!... Come on, you follow me now..."

John slowly lifts his shirt and takes the Colt. "Hey!..." He yells at the man, already pulling the trigger. "How stupid do you think I am?"

The maintenance guy eye's changes into yellow. "You really want an honest answer on that?" The Demon grins. Two possessed male nurses are coming towards John. "You conjuring me? I'm surprised. I took you for a lot of things, but suicidal wasn't one of them."

"I can always shoot you."

"You could always miss... And you only got one try, don't you?" The Demon winks. "Did you really think you could trap me that easy, Johnny?"

"I don't wanna trap you." He's lowering the gun, putting the trigger back into safe position. "I wanna make a deal!"

The Demon stares at him, suddenly interested.

.

Dean is still discussing with the reaper. "Look, I'm sure you've heard this before, but you gotta make an exception. You gotta cut me a break..."

"Stage three: Bargaining." She just answers.

"I'm serious... My family is in danger... See, we're kind of in the middle of... This war. And they need me."

"The fight is over for you, Dean... You're not the first soldier I've plucked from the field. They all feel the same. They can't leave. Victory hanging in the balance. But, they're all wrong. The battle goes on without them..."

"My brother... He could die without me..." He comes nervously.

"Maybe he will... Maybe he won't... Nothing you can do about it... It's an honourable death you'll have..."

"There's no such thing as an honourable death... My corpse is gonna rot in the ground. My family is going to die... No, I'm not going with you. I don't care what you do..."

"Well, like you said, there's always a choice... I can't make you come with me, but you're not getting back in your body either. And that's just facts... Oh yes, you can stay here... For years... Alone and scared... And over the decades, it'll drive you mad or even get violent..."

"What are you saying?"

"Dean, how do you think angry spirits are born?... Do you really want to become what you hunted?"

.

"It's very unseemly... Making deals with devils... How do I know this isn't just another trick?" The Demon asks.

"It's no trick... I will give you the Colt and the bullet... But, you gotta safe Dean... Bring him back..." John replies.

"You're such a sentimentalist... If only your boys knew how much their daddy loves them."

"It's a good trade... You care a lot more about this gun than any human soul..."

"Sure is that Dean is not much of a treat... Neither your other son or that girl... You know the truth, right? About Sammy and Elisabeth... And the other ones..."

"Yeah! I've known for a while."

"But you didn't told them, doesn't it? You've been playing dumb..."

"Can you bring Dean back, yes or no?"

"No... But I know someone who can. It's not a problem." The Demon smirks devilishly.

"Good... But before I give you the gun, I'll have to be sure that my Son's okay... With my own eyes."

"Oh, John... Now I'm offended... Don't you trust me?" John give him a side look. "Fine!"

"So, we have a deal?"

"No... Not yet... You still need to raise the price a little bit..."

"With what?"

"There's something else, I want as much as that gun..." He mysteriously says.


	46. Chapter 45

Chapter 45

"Before we go... There is something I need to do..." Dean softly asks the reaper, finally accepting his fate.

"What will be the goodness in telling her, now that you will leave her..." Tessa answers, putting a hand on his shoulder.

"Yeah! You're probably right on that..."

"So, you are coming with me?"

The lights in the room start flickering. "Why are you doing that for? Is it part of the going away party?"

"I'm not doing it." She instantly get afraid.

"What's that?" Dean points at the wall, where black smoke is coming out the the vent.

"You can't do this... Get away..." She screams.

"Tessa? What is happening?" He watches the black smoke entering the reaper's body through her mouth.

She then turns around to face Dean, her eyes changed into yellow. "Today's seems to be your lucky day, kiddo!" She says in a husky voice, placing a hand on his forehead.

.

Dean suddenly raises from his bed, gulping a huge breath. He is shocking with the tube he has in his mouth.

"Dean!" Both Eli and Sam yell.

Sam runs in the hallway to seek for help.

.

"I can't explain it... The oedema's vanished. The internal contusions are healed. Your vitals are good... You must have some kind of angel watching over you." The doctor says to a now seated Dean.

"Thanks, Doc..." He softly voices, as his throat is still sore. "You said a reaper was after me?" He continues when the medic left the room.

"Yeah..." His brother answers.

"How'd I ditch it?"

"You got me... Dean, you really don't remember anything?"

"No... Except this pit in my stomach."

They hear soft knocks on the door. "How you feeling, Dude?" John asks his son.

"Fine, I guess... I'm alive..."

"That's what matters..."

"Where were you last night?" Sam inquires, suspicious.

"I had some things to take care of." His father answers in a normal tone.

"Well, that's specific!" Eli is putting a hand on his arm to make him stop.

"Come on, Sam..." Dean says.

"Did you go after the Demon?"

"No..."

"Why don't I believe you right now?" Sam still not convinced.

"Can we not fight? You know, half the time I don't know what we're fighting about. We're just butting heads... Sammy, I've... I've made mistakes, but I've always done the best I could. I just don't wanna fight any more, okay?" John calmly speaks, with some kind of sadness in his voice.

"Dad? Are you all right?" Sam suddenly worried.

"Yeah.. Just a little bit tired... Hey you two, would you mind... getting me a cup of nice good non-healthy caffeine from across the street?" He asks Sam and Eli.

"Yeah, sure..." She sits back in her wheelchair, pushed by Sam.

.

"What is it?" Deans asks John when they are alone in the room.

"You know, when you were a kid... I'd come home from a hunt. And after what I'd seen... I'd be wrecked... And you... You'd come up to me. You put a hand on my shoulder and you'd look me in the eyes... You'd say 'it's okay dad'... Dean, I'm sorry..."

"For what?"

"You shouldn't have to say that to me. I should've been saying it to you. You know, I put too much on your shoulders. I made you grow up too fast. You took care of Sam and you took care of me. You did that. And you didn't complain, not once. I just want you to know... that I am so proud of you..." John nearly bursting into tears.

"This really you talking?" Dean softly says, wondering why he was telling him all this.

"Yeah, it's really me..." His father smiles.

"Why are you saying this stuff?"

"I want you to watch out for Sammy, okay?"

"Of course... Dad, you know I will..."

"And stop being so hard on Eli... She is a strong and smart woman... A little stubborn, I leave you that... But, she has a good heart... And I think she has a thing for you... So..."

"I will... And I know about... Whatever... Dad, you're scaring me..."

"Don't be, Dean..." John bends towards his Son and whispers in his ear. Dean's expression starts to harden. He turns his head to face his father, asking silently a confirmation on what he just revealed him. John just nods a 'yes', a tear running down his face.

.

Back in his room, John puts down the Colt on the sideboard of his bed. "Okay..." He mouths to the shadow in front of him.

Sam and Eli are racing in the hospital hallway, laughing like kids. "Sam, stop... I'm gonna spill over all the coffee!" She cheerfully screams. Sam slows down and looks right passing John's room. He briskly freezes. "Sam, come on... Watch out!..." As he does not say anything, she turns her head towards the room too. Both discovering John's body on the floor.

"Dad!" Sam says, already kneeling near his father.

Eli raises from her chair, letting the coffee fall on the floor. She starts yelling for help in the hallway.

.

The doctor is practising CPR on John now laying in his bed.

"You'll have to wait outside." A nurse requests to the trio wanting to come in the room.

"It's our Dad..." Sam softly says.

"500cc's ready to go..." Another nurse warns the medic.

"Okay, let's try again... An amp of atropine."

"Come on... Come on... Come on..." Dean whispers.

"Pushing atropine..."

"Stop compression..." The doctor orders.

"Last breath... Still no pulls" The monitors showing flat line.

"That's it everybody... I'll call it... Time of death, 10:41 am..." The medic concludes.


	47. Chapter 46

Chapter 46

On a pyre, John's body, wrapped in a shroud, slowly burns. Eli, in front of it, recites a Latin text for the eternal rest of his spirit. A few steps behind her, Sam cannot hold his sobs, while Dean's face does not express anything, just a blank look, close to emotionless.

"Before he... Did he say anything to you?... About anything?..." Sam stutters.

"No... Nothing..." Dean answers after a moment, finally letting one tear fall when Eli finishes her speech.

.

One week after John's cremation, at Bobby's yard, Dean is working relentlessly on his dearest Impala, still three quarters apart. A radio is playing a soft rock tune. He's under the car, fixing a shock absorber.

Sam approaches. "How's the car coming along?" He asks his brother.

"Slow..."

"Yeah?... Need any help?"

"What? You under a hood?.. Thanks, but I'll pass..." Dean mocks him a bit.

"Need anything else, then?"

"Stop it, Sam..." Dean coming out of there. "Eli already came twice today asking for the same thing..."

"Huh, huh... So..."

"So, stop asking me if I need anything... Stop asking me if I'm okay... I am okay... Really... Promise." The elder rummaging in his toolbox for a right piece to fit on his wrench.

"All right... Dean, it's just... We've been at Bobby's for a week now and you haven't brought up Dad once."

"You know what? You're right... Come here. I wanna lay my head on your shoulder... Maybe we can cry and hug... Maybe even slow dance, if you'd like that..." Dean ironically smiles.

"Don't patronise me, Dean... Dad is dead. The Colt is gone and it seems pretty damn sure that the Demon is behind all this... And you're acting like nothing happened!"

"What do you want me to say..." He bursts out.

"Say something!... Hell, say anything... Aren't you angry? Don't you want revenge?... No, all you do is sit out here all day long, buried underneath that damn car..." Sam bawls to oblige his brother to react.

"Revenge, huh?" The elder calmly comes.

"Yeah!"

"Sounds good. Got any leads on where the Demon is? Can you making something out of Dad's research? I sure ain't... And even Eli couldn't make heads or tail of it... But okay, lets imagine we do finally find a lead to it... Oh dang, wait! Houston, we have a problem... The Colt's missing." Dean returns to his car. "But, I suppose you've already figured out another way to kill it, right?... Sam, we got nothing... Nothing, okay?... So, you see, the only thing I can put my head on right now, is working on my car..."

"Well, we got something, all right? That's what I came to tell you... It's one of Dad's old phones. I finally could crack his voice mail code.. Listen to this." Sam hands him the phone.

"John, it's Ellen. Again. Look, don't be stubborn. You know I can help you. Call me, please." A woman voice says.

"That message is four month old already." Dean giving back the phone to his brother. "Why would he safe it for so long? And who's Ellen? Did you find anything on her in Dad's journal?" He wonders

"No, but I ran a trace on the phone number and I got an address."

"Ask Bobby if we can use one of his cars."

"Eli is already waiting in front of the house with it." Sam smiles.

.

The address leads them to a roadhouse in the middle of nowhere. Dean parks the old rusty van in front of it. "This is so humiliating... I feel like a frigging soccer mum!" He says.

"It's the only car my Dad got running. You should have let me drive then!" Eli mocks him.

The saloon seems to be desolated. "Hello? Anybody here?" Sam yells around.

"Hey... Did you bring the..." Dean asks his brother.

"Of course..." He throws him the lock-picker case.

"Eli, you stay here... If anything moves, you hunk..." The elder softly orders her.

.

They enter the place. It seems to be closed. They only spot a guy sleeping on the pool table.

Sam goes checking in the back room, behind the counter, while Dean's looking around the bar.

He suddenly feels something pointing in the middle of his back. "Oh God, please let that be a rifle." He comes.

"No, I'm just real happy to see you." A young woman says, arming her gun. "Don't move!"

"Not moving... Copy that. But, you should know something, Miss. When you point a rifle on someone, don't put it right against his back... Because it makes it real easy to do..." He briskly turns around and grabs it from her hands. "...This."

Without loosing her composure, she sends him a right hook in his nose and takes the weapon back from him. "Bro, I need some help in here..." Dean screams, putting a hand on his painful schnoz.

"Sorry, man... I can't right now. I'm a little tied up." Sam answers coming back from the other room, his hands on his head, followed by an older woman threatening him with a revolver.

At that moment, Eli rushes into the saloon. "Sam! Dean!... What the Hell is..." She yells, aiming her gun left and right. She freezes in front of the scene, but quickly take back her senses. "Okay, Lady... You slowly drop your gun on the floor nice and slow or I'll give your nice daughter a brand new make-up!" She threatens the older woman, pointing her weapon to the younger one.

"If I were you, I wouldn't take odds on if she can or not do what she just said... Just for you info, I never saw her missing a target!" Dean winks to the lady.

"You called them Sam and Dean?... You're the Winchesters?" She suddenly asks.

"Yeah!" The brothers says in unison.

"Son of a bitch!" She claims.

"Mum, you know these guys?" The young women questions.

"Yeah, I think these are John's boys... I didn't know he had a daughter, tho..." She starts to laugh, putting her revolver down. "Hey, I'm Ellen... And that's my daughter, Jo..."

"Hey..." She comes, lowering her riffle too.

Eli relaxes, putting her gun behind her in the belt of her jeans. "I'm Eli... And not their sister!..."

"She's Bobby Singer's daughter..." Sam adds.

"Nice to meet you all... Welcome in my saloon..." Ellen invites them to sit around the counter.

"You're not gonna hit me again, are you?" Dean whispers to Jo before moving again.


	48. Chapter 47

Chapter 47

All sitting around the counter, besides from Ellen that is serving beer to everybody, they explain how they arrive at the roadhouse. "You called our Dad, said you could help... Help with what?" Dean asks.

"Well, the Demon, of course... I heard he was closing in on it." Ellen answers.

"Was there an article in Demon Hunter Quarterly that I missed? Who are you? How do you know this?" Dean wonders.

"Hey, I just run a saloon. But, hunters have been known to pass through now and again. Including your Dad a long time ago... John was like family once."

"Oh yeah? How come he's never mentioned you before?" He comes still on his guard.

"You have to ask him that..."

"So, why exactly do we need your help?"

"Hey, don't do me any favours. Look, if you don't want my help, fine. Don't let the door smack your asses on the way out. But, John wouldn't have sent you if..." She suddenly freezes, fearing the worse to have happened. "He didn't send you..." The trio briefly look at each other, but keep silence. "He's all right, isn't he?"

"No... He isn't... It was the Demon, we think. It just got him before he got it, I guess." Sam softly explains.

"I'm so sorry..."

"It's okay. We're all right." Dean comes a bit dryly.

"Really? I know how close you and your dad..."

"Really, Lady... I'm fine!" He stammers.

"Dean..." Eli softly says.

"So, look... If you can, we could use all the help we can get..." Sam gently cuts.

"Well, we can't... But Ash will!"

"Who's Ash?"

"Ash!" Ellen calls out.

The long haired guy sleeping on the pool table suddenly wakes up. "What?... Closing time?... Sorry... I'm leaving already..." He comes out of the blue.

"That's Ash?" Eli wonders.

"He's a genius." Jo answers.

"Not the first word that would popped in my head, looking at him..." She smirks.

.

Sam puts his father's file on the counter in front of the guy.

"You gotta be kidding... He's no genius. He's a Lynyrd Skynyrd roadie." Dean says, his arms crossed over his chest.

"I like you..." Ash smiles.

"Just give him a chance." Jo's winking at Dean.

"All right. This stuff is years worth our Dad's work. So, let's see what you make of it." Dean smirks, sipping on his beer.

The man takes the pile of papers out of the folder and starts to flip through it, barely looking at what's mentioned on it. "Come on. This crap ain't real. Nobody can track a Demon like this!" Ash concludes.

"Hey... Have some respect for another hunter's hard work, will you!" Eli bursts out.

"Eli..." Sam gently warns her.

"What? He just looked at three, four pages and directly comes to the conclusion this is just a pile of crap?... How can you let him say that?..." He puts a calming hand on her arm.

"Owwww... The tiger type... I like too..." Ash smirks at her. She stands from her seat, ready to take him by the collar. "That was a compliment, Milady..." Putting his hands in front of him as defence.

"Well, yeah... Great... Okay, our Dad could trace the Demon... So..." Sam refocusing the conversation.

"These are non-parametric statistical overviews. Cross-spectrum correlations. I mean... Damn. They're signs, omens. If you can track them, you can track this Demon..." Ash staring at Eli's to prove he knows what he is talking about. "You know, like crop failures, electrical storms... You ever been struck by lightning? It ain't fun..." He continues.

"So sorry it missed you..." Eli whispers. Sam frowns at her. "He just tells us things we already know, Sam..." She says in her defence.

"Can you track it or not?" The youngest asks Ash.

"Yeah! I think so. But, it's gonna take time... Give me... Hum... Let's say... 51 hours." He puts all the papers back in the folder and leaves for the back room.

"Hey, man..." Dean calls him. "By the way, I dig the haircut!"

"All business in the front... Party in the back!" He joyfully says.

"What a clown!" Eli softly mocks.

"Enough now... You made your point, Eli!" Sam lectures her.

"So, are we gonna stay here and wait for those... Let's say... 51 hours?" Mimicking the inverted commas with her fingers.

"We could do some sightseeing?... Find a nice place to hang out... Have some sort of a short break..." He proposes, trying to cheering her mood.

"There's a nice lake 25 miles down here... I think you can even rent some cabins around it... And at this time of the year, there won't be much people around..." Jo says.

"Dean, what you think?" Sam asks his brother. He shrugs for only answer.

.

"Thank you..." Sam says to the woman that hands him the keys of the cabin he just rented for the next 2 days.

"You need to buy some supplies before getting down there... The grocery shop will be closed in an hour... You'll find the electrical generator at the back of the Cabin... The water inlet under the kitchen sink... You may use the canoes, just don't loose the oars or you will be invoiced for them... There are some life jackets in the entrance closet... You need to bring back the keys by noon... If I'm not in, just put them in the mailbox..." She recites.

"Thanks... I'll think we'll manage..." He leaves the office with a smile, showing the two others the key chain in form of a grisly bear.

.

Arriving at the lake, they take some time to look around, stunned by the scenery.

"Waouw... It's beautiful out here." Eli coming out of the van.

"Told you it was a good idea... Sure we could all use that small break, don't you think." Sam says, already taking out of the back of the vehicle their bags and the food they bought at the shop.

"Think I'm gonna start with some fishing... I cannot remember when was the last time I did that..." Dean stretching his body in front of the water.

.

Eli is putting away the victuals in the fridge and closets of the kitchen. Sam is unpacking their stuff in the bedrooms. And Dean's piling up kindling in the fireplace.

"Hey, guys?" The youngest screams from upstairs.

"Don't tell me you find a ghost in my bedroom..." Dean teases.

Leaning on the banister. "No, just makes me happy to share a sort of family thing." He smiles.


	49. Chapter 48

Chapter 48

Eli checks on Dean, sitting in a small wooden boat in the middle of the lake, a fishing rod in his hand.

"Are you not coming for lunch? You've been up there since dawn..." She yells at him.

"Not hungry..." He answers, hauling his line and casting it on the other side.

"Whatever..." She mumbles, going back to the cabin.

"I though this break would be a good think... That he would loosen up a bit..." Sam says a bit disappointed that his brother is not sharing time with them.

"Maybe this is what he really needs... Time with himself... Time to grief..."

.

In the afternoon, Dean checks under the hood of the van to see if it is possible to fix that screeching noise it does when driving. Sam decides to go talking to his brother. "You find another baby to cuddle?" He jokes. Dean shrugs, looking at the timing belt. "Are you gonna play solitary the whole stay?" Sam continues.

The elder stops what he is doing. "Something in particular you wanna talk about, Sammy?" He asks him sarcastically.

"Well, this was suppose to be a sharing holiday... And..."

"No, Sammy... You present this as a short break were we could do whatever we wanted... And that's what I'm doing!"

"I don't understand... Why you never talk about Dad?... You don't talk about anything either..."

"Oh dear, here we go again... I already told you..."

"You told me zilch squat, Dean!... And that strong, silent thing of yours really starts to piss me of... That attitude of yours is just crap!... This isn't just anyone, this is Dad!... And I know how you felt about the guy..."

"Back off, all right?..." The elder threatening him with the tool he has in his hand. "Just because I'm not caring and sharing like you want me too..."

"No, that's not what this is about... I don't care how you deal with this, but you have to deal with it, man... Listen, I'm your brother, I wanna make sure your okay."

"Dude, for the zillions' time, I'm okay... I am... Okay?.. I swear, the next one who asks me if I'm okay, I'm gonna start throwing punches!... These are your issues... Quit dumping them on me."

"What are you talking about?"

"I just think it's really interesting this sudden obedience you have to Dad. It's like 'Oh, what would Dad want me to do?'... Sam, you spent your life fighting with the man... I mean, you event had one the last time you saw him. And now that he's dead you wanna make it right? Sorry, but you can't. It's to late!" Dean starts yelling.

"Why are you saying this to me?" Sam now completely unsettled.

"I want you to be honest with yourself about this... I'm dealing with Dad's death... But, are you?"

Sam leaves him there, walking away to the lake.

.

"You know, that was really cold and selfish of you..." Eli, that had witness the conversation, softly says.

"None of your business..." Dean harshly answers.

"Oh!... Yeah, I know... It was not my Dad, it was yours!... So, you're the only one that did SO much for him that only YOU has the right to suffer and to mourn!... All the others are not worthy enough... Got it!"

"Shut the hell up, Eli!"

"No... I'm not gonna shut up... I'm really up to here with your attitude!... Being treated like shit!... And lately, it's the way you treat everybody around you... Every soul that cares for you!... Since John's gone, you've build that fucking wall around you for no one to trespass... Well, go along that road, buddy... One day, you gonna turn around and there won't be anyone walking along with you any more!... You gonna be just old, sour and lonely!" She yells.

"I'm already used to that!... So, back off too... You feel me!" He shrugs.

"You go to hell, Dean Winchester!"

.

The Roadhouse is full of hunters, cleaning their weapons, drinking their beer and whiskey or playing cards.

Sam and Dean are sitting around the counter, Ellen handing them two bottles.

Jo comes next to Dean. "So... Am I gonna see you again some day?" She whispers to him, an engaging look on her face.

"Can I be honest with you?... See, normally, I'd be hitting on you so fast it would make your head spin... But, hum, these days... I'm..." He gives a quick look at Eli, that is selecting some songs from the jukebox.

"Think I got that... I'm second in line..."

"I don't know... Dealing with the loss of my Dad... Dealing with the Demon... Dealing with..." He sighs. "It goes way above my head... I feel a bit lost and confused... I shouldn't have talk to her the way I did..."

"Well, if you think you did... You should tell HER all that... Not me..."

.

Ash finally arrives in the place. "Where you guys been? I was waiting for you!" He jokes.

Eli and Sam, playing a pool game, put down their cues on the table and join Dean around the counter.

"You got something for us, Ash?... Did you find the Demon?" The elder asks first.

He lays down a self-hand-made laptop on the bar. "It's nowhere around... At least, nowhere I can find. But, if this fugly bastard raises its head, I'll know... I mean, I'm on it..."

"What do you mean by 'I'm on it'?" Sam questions.

"I mean, any of those signs or omens appear anywhere in the world... My rig will go for... Like a fire alarm." The long-haired man explains, turning the screen towards them.

"Ash, where did you learn to do all this?"

"MIT, Sam... Before I got bounced for fighting." He smiles.

"MIT?... Really?... Boston MIT?" Eli comes a bit surprised.

"Yep, Ma'am..." He suddenly draws himself up in pride.

"So, I think I owe you a sincere apology... For the things I've said before..." She looks at him a bit ashamed.

"No offence taken... I like people with temper!... They are my favourite kind..." He winks at her, making her laugh.

"Okay... Give us a call as soon as you know something?" Dean cuts off.

"Si, si... Compadre..."

Dean empties his beer, patting Sam's shoulder to make him understand it's time to leave. Eli, smiling, waves at Ash, following the brothers.

"Hey, you guys... If you need a place to stay, I got beds out back..." Ellen proposes.

"Thanks, but no... There's something I gotta finish..." Dean answers.

.

Back at Bobby's, Dean continues to work on his car. Sam is staring at him. "You were right..."

"About what?"

"About me and Dad... I'm sorry that the last time I was with him, I tried to pick a fight. I'm sorry that I spent most of my life angry at him... I mean, for all I know, he died thinking that I hate him... So, you're right." Dean stops what he was doing and stares at his brother. "What I'm doing right now, it is too little, too late... I miss him, man..." The youngest continues. "And I feel guilty as hell. And I'm not alright... Not at all... But, neither are you. That much I know..." He stands up from where he was. "I'll let you get back to work." And leaves the place.

.

Dean starts to think about what his brother just said. The anger and the pain slowly overcoming him, to finally burst out of his chest. He takes a tire iron and smashes the windshield of one of the parked cars. He turns around and unleashes the rest of it on the trunk of his Impala. He hits it over and over till his strengths abandons him.

Finally, he bursts into tears.


	50. Chapter 49

Chapter 49

"Isn't she a perfect beauty?" Dean showing his now completely fixed Impala to Eli and Sam.

"Man, if you want to take a room, ya know... Go ahead..." His brother jokes.

The elder pets the roof of his beloved car, caressing her lines. "Let them talk, Baby. They don't understand us."

"No, for sure, we don't... I'll never get how a man can have a conversation with an object... Might be his car or is tinny Willy... It's beyond my understanding." Eli laughs. Dean gives her a side look. "So, are we finished here?... Dinner won't appear by magic!"

"Oh Dear!... You're such a grandma sometimes." He mocks her.

"Yep, but hell she can cook!" Sam softly tapping his belly.

"Thanks, Sam... At least one in this family has a sense of gratitude and some love to share..."

"What's that suppose to mean?" Dean flings.

"Ask you car, Baby!" Eli winks, going back to the house.

"What did I do now?" He asks Sam.

"Hum... I don't like to be in between and interfere with people's personal affairs... But, since you're my brother and all..."

"Cut it short, Sammy..."

"Yeah! Well, I think it has more to do with what you didn't do that seems to be the problem... Just saying…"

"What?" But Sam makes already his way back too. "Hey!... I don't get it... A little help, maybe?... A small hint, then…" Dean voices. His brother turns around and just shrugs.

.

"That was pure heaven, cupcake!" Bobby says, massaging his stomach. "You'll never go anywhere a mile away from this house ever again!" He adds with a smile.

"What?" Eli cleaning up the table. "Well, you still gonna have a hard time to stop me, daddy! I'll promise you that." She kisses her father's temple on her way to the kitchen. Sam takes the rest of the plates and follows her.

Arriving at the sink, he drops everything in a loud noise. "Hey, careful with that... This is my mum's crockery!" She warns him. He clings on the edge of the table, in pain. "Sam?... What?..." She takes him by the waist, approaching one of the chairs to make him sit down. He is holding his head between his hands, rocking back and forth from the ache. She grabs a dish towel, wets it and puts it on his forehead. He finally recovers his senses. "Vision?" She softly asks.

"Yeah! A large black guy receives a phone call and then enters a gun dealer. He seems to know the owner. He picks up a pump-action rifle, loads it and shoots the man's chest before turning the weapon to himself." Sam quickly explains, giving as much details as he can remember for now.

"Anything you saw that might help to know when and where?"

"It's still kinda blurry..." He whispers, wincing from the headache.

Eli goes back to the main room. "Guys, party's over... Think we have a new case..."

.

"Rock in Nebraska… Your source for the classics, all night long." The presenter's cheerfully chatters from the car radio, the Impala engulfing miles like nothing.

"I don't know, man... Couldn't we think about this first?" Dean comes a little concerned.

"What is there to think about?" Sam asks him.

"Don't know if going to the Roadhouse..."

"Dean, it's another one of his visions... It could happen any time now... We need to know fast…" Eli points out from the back seat.

"Yeah! And maybe Ash can helps us finding where." Sam adds.

"Okay, but..."

"You know that our abilities are nearly always connected with the Demon, right?" She continues.

"That's exactly my point. There's gonna be hunters there. Don't know if announcing that you're some Supernatural freaks with a demonic connection is the best thing!"

"So, I'm a freak now?" Sam staring at his brother.

"You've always been one!" Dean trying to turn his last remark into a light joke.

.

The Saloon is packed when the trio comes in. "Just can't stay away, huh?" Jo banters to Dean as a welcome.

"Looks like. How you're doing, Jo?" He politely answers.

"Hi Jo..." Eli says, staying close to him.

"Where's Ash?" Sam cuts it short.

"In his back-room..."

"Great!" Sam already going.

"... And I'm fine, thank you." Jo finishes.

"Sorry... We're kind of on a tight timetable here." Dean excusing his brother roughness.

"Eli?..." A man's voice comes from the pool table. She turns towards the sound. "Elisabeth Williams! You must be kidding me!" The man cheerfully calls.

"Anthony?... Oh my God!... Is that you?" She heads to him in a slow run and jumps right in his arms.

He lifts her up and starts to spin her around. "What in heaven are you doing in a place like this?" He puts her back down.

"Working on a case... You know, routine business... What about you?"

Dean is approaching. "Hi..." Raising up a hand.

"Oh, Anthony... This is one of the guy's I'm now sometimes teaming with... Dean Winchester." She makes the introduction.

"Winchester?... Related with John Winchester?"

"Yeah!... My Dad..."

"Heard he was... Sorry, man... All the hunters had a great deal of respect for him, you know..."

"Yeah!... Thanks... Hum... Eli, we have to..." Dean softly says.

"Yeah!... You don't go anywhere, okay... We just have a thing or two to settle and I'll be back… I want to know everything that happened since!..." She tells Anthony in a huge smile.

.

Sam has already knock several time on a door where 'Dr. Badass is: IN' is written on a board hanging on it.

"For Christ sake, Ash?" He yells, knocking again.

"Let me try..." Eli says, as she just arrived. "Doctor Badass... It's Eli." She says in a languorous tone.

The latch finally slides out of his lock and a naked Ash half-opens the door. "Tiger-Eli... Oh... And Sam... Waouw... And Dean... The whole pack..." He says, seemingly high on something.

"Hey Ash... We need your help, Pal." Sam calmly comes.

"Oh, hell then... Guess I need my pants."

"If you don't mind..." Eli gently smiles, as he closes the door again.

.


	51. Chapter 50

Chapter 50

They are all sitting around a table. Sam gives Ash a small piece of paper where he draw something he recalled from his vision (A road in a form of a triangle with 'Blueridge' written on the bottom). The long-haired guy taps away on his hand-made laptop. "Got a match. It's the logo for some bus lines in Guthrie, Oklahoma."

"Okay, do me a favour. Check Guthrie for any demonic sings or omens or anything like that." Sam requests.

"You think the Demon's there?"

"Yeah, maybe..."

"Why would you think that?"

"Just check it, Ash... Please..." Eli comes nicely.

"Nothing I can refuse to my pretty Lady." He smirks. Dean squints at her. She just answers with her best smile.

"No, nothing... No Demon." Ash concludes.

"All right, try something else for me... Search Guthrie for a house fire. It would be 1983. Fire's origin in a baby's nursery... Night of the kid's six month birthday." Sam lists.

Ash stares surprised at him. "Okay, now that's just weird... Why the hell would be looking for that?"

"Because there'll be some free beers for you." Sam already putting on the table a not opened fresh bottle in from of him.

"Give me 15 minutes!"

"Perfect!" Eli says nimbly leaving them.

She goes at the counter, orders two bottles of beer and joins Anthony at the other side of the bar, directly starting a conversation with him.

.

The Roadhouse is now closed for customers. Jo is looking at the song list on the jukebox. She pushes some buttons and waits till the chosen song starts. After a few bars, Dean lifts his head from his glass, looking at Jo. Then, he quickly turns his gaze to Eli - still talking and laughing with Anthony, a hand on his forearm - before returning to his beer.

Jo cleans a table, puts glasses on a tray and goes for the counter. She approaches him with a light smile.

"REO Speedwagon?" He says, making a little fun of her.

"Damn right!... Kevin Cronin sings it from the heart."

"He sings it from the hair... There's a difference!" He smirks.

"That profile you've got Ash looking for. Your mom died the same way, didn't she? A fire in Sam's nursery?"

"Jo, it's kinda family thing."

"I could help."

"I'm sure you could, but we gotta handle this one ourselves. Besides, if I ran off with you, your mother might kill me."

"You're afraid of my mother... Or of her?" She discreetly points in Eli's direction.

"I..." Dean starts.

"We have a match... We gotta go." Sam cuts in.

.

In the car, Dean continues to sing out loud the song from the jukebox. "_Come __crashing __through __your __door...__Baby, __I __can't __fight __this __feeling __any__more..._"

"Why am I under the impression that you're taking the piss out of me, huh?" Eli erupts from the back seat.

"What are you talking about?... _My __life __has __been __such __a __whirl wind __since __I __saw __you_..." He starts again. "_Cause __you __take __me __to __the __places...__That __alone __I'd __never __find_... I'm just happy, that's all..." He finishes with a big fake smile.

"Damn, I hate that song..."

"Oh, is that so... _And __I __can't __fight __this __feeling __any__more..._"

"Dude... Come on..." Sam frowning at his brother.

"_I've __forgotten __what __I __started __fighting __for_... Sorry, I just can't get it out of my head..." He smirks.

"What's your point, Dean?" Eli asks between her teeth.

"My point?... Well, I just think this song fitted the moment of this fine reunion of yours... You know, a guy coming out of the blue still in love of his old hunting partner... Destiny putting them back on the same path..."

"He's just a friend... And he's not in... Oh, Christ!... Whatever..." She shrugs.

"Okay... Subject change requested." Sam coming to the rescue. "Ash found a certain Andrew Gallagher. Born in 83, like us. Lost his mother in a nursery fire exactly 6 month later, also like us..."

"You think a Demon killed his mom too?" Dean asks.

"Looks like it..."

"How did you know to look for the guy, Sam?"

"The Demon said something about other kids like us... So, could be that every time the Demon makes a move, our abilities are popping up."

"You mean that you are a sort of Demon sonar, starting to beep when a target is close enough?" Dean is intrigued.

"Something in that genre, yes... Eli and I listed every time our abilities showed up and every time we had a close encounter with the Demon... Only the Shtriga thing stays a mystery... But, we've no proof it wasn't nearby..." The youngest explains.

"How do we find this Gallagher guy?" Dean asks.

"Don't know. No current address, no current employment. Just a few unpaid bills: Phone, credit... We found his last work address at a Dinner, but it's a year old... That's all we have to start with." Sam reads from the file Ash gave him.

"You know, Eli... If you'd like, I can drive you back to the Roadhouse... So, you could stay with Toni... Think we can handle this job... It's not like we really need you on this one..." Dean provoking her again, since she stayed silent.

"His name in Anthony... He hates to be called Toni..."

"Oh, that is so cute!… See, what I mean... They share history, man..." He winks at his brother.

"Stop the car!" She suddenly bursts out.

"Eli..." Sam trying to calm her down.

"STOP THE FUCKING CAR! Or I'll jump out of it!..."

"Eli... Dean... Come on, guys..." Trying to appease both of them.

Dean pulls on the side of the road, making the tires screech. She goes out of the car, putting her shoulder bag around her in a brisk movement, opens the trunk and takes her duffel. She starts to walk away in the opposite direction.

.

Sam, noticing that Dean is not making any move to follow Eli, goes after her and gently takes her by the arm. "Hey... I'm not letting you here in the middle of nowhere... At least, drive with us till the next town..."

"Don't worry, Sam… There's only 2 miles from the previous one we passed... I think I can handle it..."

"Eli, come on... You know how Dean can be sometimes... Why are you taking it so seriously today?..."

She heavily sighs. "I don't know how to do this any more... One day, he doesn't seem to care about me... And the next, he's making a scene because I just talk to someone... You know I have feelings for him, don't you..."

"Yeah, I figure that out... And for his defence, Dean is not someone who can easily deal with that kind of situations... I don't even know if he once got a serious relationship in his entire life..."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, believe it or not... The way he's always on your back for every little detail, it's his way of showing he cares..."

"Sam, thanks but I've a hard time to believe that... Think he played enough yo-yo with me... I really need to take a break from all this... For a moment at least... The time to put my mind back straight... I'm sorry you're cut in the middle of this... Just let me know what you'll found down there, okay..."

"May I ask where are you going?"

"Just home to my Dad's... Take care, Sam..." She softly smiles and takes back her walk on the road.

.

Sam goes back in the car, looking daggers at Dean.

"What?" His brother comes.

"That was awfully cold-hearted! She cares about you, Dean!"

"I know... And that's why I did this..."

"What? But, I thought that you..."

"Well, you though wrong!" Dean cuts him.

"Couldn't you just telling her nicely you were not sharing the same feelings? You know, like a normal human being would do... Having a serious conversation about it… She really didn't deserve to have her heart smashed like that..."

"You finished?... Can we go now?" He asks coolly, turning back on the engine.

.


	52. Chapter 51

Chapter 51

A woman is serving coffee to the brothers all dressed up in business suits. "I'm sorry, but you won't get anything out of Andy... They never do..."

"They?" Sam asks.

"You're debt collectors, right?" Once in a while, they come by. I don't know what he says to them, but they never come back." She softly smiles.

"Actually, we're lawyers, representing his great-aunt Lita. She passed and left Andy a sizable estate." Dean seriously explains.

"So, are you a friend of his?" Sam gently asks.

"I used to be... Don't see much of Andy any more."

"Andy kicks ass!" A young waiter arrives, sitting uninvited on their table.

"Is that right?" Dean smirks.

"Andy can get you into anything. He even got me backstage at Aerosmith once. That was awesome!"

"How about clearing a table of two, Webber?" The woman gently orders him.

"Yeah! Sure, boss... Sorry..." He rushes away.

"Look, if you wanna find him, try Orchard Street. Just look for a van with a barbarian queen painted on the side. She's riding a polar bear. It's kinda hard to miss..."

.

The brothers are taking watch near the van, waiting for Andy to show up. "I'm sorry, but I'm starting to like this dude... That van is sweet!" Dean grins, as they park on the other side of the road. Sam is staring nervously at it. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing." The youngest replies.

"You look like your sucking a lemon. What's going on?" He insists.

"This Andy is the second one like this we've found. Demon came when they were kids, now they kill people." Sam worries.

"We don't know what Andrew is... Could be innocent." Dean trying to calm his brother's concerns.

"My visions haven't been wrong yet."

"What's your point?"

"My point is, Eli and I are like them."

"No, you're not..."

"The Demon said he had plans for us and children like us... Maybe that's it... We're supposed to be killers."

"So, your theory is that this Demon wants you out there killing with your minds, is that it?... Give me a break... You're not murderers... You don't have it in your bones, neither of you..."

"You're sure?... We killed a lot of things already."

"But, those things were asking for it. There's a difference."

.

Andrew Gallagher is coming out of an apartment, waving at a beautiful woman sitting on the edge of her first floor window, just wearing a silk black negligee. She is sending him kisses.

He walks away and stops a guy coming towards him. He talks with him for a few seconds, smiling and the man gives him his cup of coffee and then just continues his walk naturally.

A little bit further down the street, he greets a large black man in his sixties.

"That's him. That's the older guy. He's the shooter." Sam bursts out.

"Well, you keep an eye on him. I'll stick with Andy..." Dean proposes.

.

Andy returns to his parked van, Dean ready to follow him.

Further down, at a 'T' intersection, a little bit out of the city-centre, Andy stops, goes out of his vehicle and comes towards Dean. "Hey..." He says, bending down to have a look to him.

"Hey..." Dean answers a hand on his gun in the inner-pocket of his jacket.

"That's a super nice ride you have..."

"Yeah! Thanks."

"Impala 67, right?... This is a serious classic, man."

"Yeah... And you know I just rebuilt her... Can't let a car like this one go, right?..."

"Damn straight!... Hey, can I have it?" Andy suddenly asks.

Dean comes out of his car. "Sure, dude..."

"Sweet!" The young man says, hopping in.

"There you go..." Dean even closing the door for him.

"That is nice... Take it easy, man..." Andy waves, leaving him in the middle of the road.

.

The old black man's phone starts to ring. Sam recognises the 'Bluerigde' logo on a passing bus. He recalls his vision, starting to come true. He crosses the street and enters the gun-dealer shop. He pulls the fire alarm trigger and leaves, just when the black guy arrives at the doorstep. He frowns, hearing the alarm and continues his walk.

Sam, so what relieved, goes down Main street and sees the Impala passing by, driven by Andy. He loses eye contact with the black man that is receiving another phone call, since he is busy to dial Dean's number.

"Andy's got your car?"

"I know!... He just sort of asked me for it and I let him take it..." Dean explains.

"You what?" He cries out.

"It's mind control, man... Another sort of it seems..."

At that moment, the black man crosses the street again, not paying attention to another bus coming down the street. Sam hears a huge bang, turns around to see the man already dead on the ground.

.

Dean finds his brother sitting on the curb. "I kept him out of the gun store. Though he was okay. I should've stayed with him." He says demoralised, the elder patting him in the back.

.


	53. Chapter 52

Chapter 52

Sam and Dean finally find back the Impala nicely parked on a corner of a side road. "Thank God! I'm sorry, Baby. I'll never leave you again." Dean talking to his car again. "At least, he left the keys in it." He continues to Sam.

"Yeah, real Samaritan, this guy..."

"It looks he can't work his mojo by twitching his nose. He's gotta use verbal commands."

"The old man had just gotten off his cell phone when he stepped in front of that bus. Andy must have called or something." Sam figures out.

"I don't know, maybe... I don't know if he is really our guy."

"What?"

"He doesn't seem like the stone-cold-killer type, that's what I mean."

"Either way, how are we gonna track this guy down?"

"Not a problem..." Dean suddenly smirks, having an idea.

.

They go back to Andy's van. "Let's have a look inside" Dean picking the lock of the back door.

The inside of the van is transformed into a kitsch bedroom, a disco ball hanging on the ceiling, a rug representing a lay down tiger covering one of the flanks. On the bed, they find a huge water pipe and some books.

"Not exactly a serial killer's lair, huh?... No clown paintings on the walls or scissors stuck in victims photos..." Dean says.

"Hegel, Kant, Wittgenstein... That's some pretty heavy reading, Dean."

Suddenly Andy appears at the corner of the street in front of them. Dean quickly closes the door and they run back to their car.

.

They follow him to another house, staying behind a hedge. Dean finishes the hamburger he bought on the 7/11 at the corner, throwing the wrapping on the back seat. "You know, sometimes, I'd love to just sit down and eat something I didn't have to microwave at a mini-mart."

"Ask Eli, I'm sure she will be delighted to cook you some nice home-made recipes." Sam mocks him, going through some papers from the file.

"Very funny... I dig your sense of humor, bro!"

"What I don't get is the motive. I mean, the doctor was clean. Why would Andy waste him?"

"If it was Andy..." Dean softly remarks.

"Dude, enough... The guy was mind-controlled in front of a bus. Andy just happens to have the power of mind control. You do the Math."

"I still don't think he's got it in him, that's all."

A sudden knock on the roof makes them both jump in surprise. "Hey! You think I haven't seen you two?... Why are you following me?" Andy screams.

"We are lawyers. A relative of yours has passed..." Sam starts to explain.

"Tell the truth..." He approaches the window, bending to see both bothers in the eyes.

"That's what I'm..." Sam smiles.

"We hunt Demons." Dean cuts, his brother looking at him in a WTH face. "Demons, spirits... Things your worst nightmares wouldn't touch. Sam here is my brother. And we have another partner called Eli."

"Shut up, Dean!..."

"I'm trying... Sam is a psychic, like you... Well not really like you... Eli can mind traveling for example... That's why our relationship is so complicated... I have troubles to talk about it with her, because I don't how... I already hurt her many times... And I feel terrible about it… I'm kind of a womanizer too, you see... Which doesn't help… So, on the part why are we following you... Sam thinks you're a murderer. And he's afraid they both can be too, because all the kids like you are all part of something terrible. I hope the hell he's wrong, but I'm starting to get scared he might be right!" He explains in one breath, proud of himself when he finishes.

"Okay, you know what? Just leave me alone..." Andy says.

"Okay..." Dean replies, already starting the engine. Sam goes out of the car and follows Andy on the side-walk.

"What are you doing? Look, I said leave me alone. Get out of here. Just start driving and never stop!" Andy commands him.

Sam just nods 'no'. "Your thing doesn't seem to work on me, Andy."

"What?"

"You can make people do things. You can tell them what to think." Sam explains, asking his brother to stay back with a movement of his hand.

"Look, that's crazy..." Andy tries to defend himself.

"It all started about a year ago, didn't it? After you turned 22. Little stuff at first. Then you got better at controlling it." Sam explains.

"How do you know all this?"

"Same thing happened to me... And to my friend Eli... Our mums that died in a fire, the abilities that showed up like this... It seems, we're all connected to each other."

"Just get out of here..." Andy starting to lose control, having a hard time to believe all what Sam is telling him.

"Why did you tell the doctor to walk in front of a bus?"

"What?"

.

All at once, Sam has another violent headache. He kneels on the floor. Dean is rushing out of the car.

"What's happening to him?... I didn't do anything..." Andy asks worried.

"I know..." Dean grabbing his brother by the shoulders. "Sammy?... What are you seeing?"

"A woman burning alive... A gas station. She's gonna kill herself..." Sam explains out of breath.

"What's he mean 'going to'?"

"Shut up!" Dean yells at Andy, putting his brother back to his feet.

"She got a call on her cell..." Sam still wincing from the pain.

"When?"

"Dunno... We need to keep an eye on him, so he can't do it..."

"I didn't hurt anybody..." Andy pleads.

"Yeah! Not yet..." Sam threatens him. At that moment a fire-truck, it siren howling is passing by on the Main street. "Dean, you go check on that. I'll stay here with him."

.


	54. Chapter 53

Chapter 53

"Hey, it's me... She's dead. Burned up, just like you said." Dean says over the phone.

"When?" Sam asks.

"Just minutes before I got here. The smell hasn't even cleared. What's with your visions, man? Should they not prevent those things, they're not supposed to broadcast live..."

"I don't know... I can't control them, bro..."

"We were with Andy when this went down. It can't be him. There must be someone else doing it... I'll dig around here, see what else I can find." Dean hangs up.

"You get premonitions of people about to die?... That's impossible..." Andy shyly comes.

"A lot of people would say the same thing about what you do..." Sam answers.

"But it all turns around death... That sucks!... I mean, like, when I got my mind thing? It was like a gift. It was like I won the lottery!"

"But you still live in a van... I don't get it... You could have anything you ever wanted."

"I got everything I need..."

"So, you're not a killer, huh?" Sam apologising to Andy.

"That's what I'm been trying to tell you..."

"Good... Means there's hope for us..."

.

Dean is back from the Gas station. "Victim's name was Holly Beckett, 41, single." He reads from his little notebook.

"You know her?" Sam asks Andy.

"Never heard of her..."

"I called Ash on the way here. He came up with something. Apparently, Holly Beckett gave birth when she was 18 in 1983. Same day you were born, Andy." Dean explains.

"Were you adopted?"

"Well, yeah! I never knew my birth parents and like you said, my adopted mom died when I was a baby... Do you think this Holly woman could actually be my...?"

"I don't know. Tried to get the birth records... But they're hard copy only, sealed in the county office." Dean declares.

"Well, screw that..." Andy smiles.

.

"I probably shouldn't have let you kids in here..." The security guy says.

"No, it'll all be fine... All right, just go get a cup of coffee, all right?" Andy pats the man's shoulder.

"Awesome..." Dean says watching the scene.

"Got it!..." Sam suddenly comes. "Andy, it's true... Holly Beckett was your biological mother... And Dr Jennings, the old black man, was her doctor too... He oversaw the adoption... You have a connection with both of them."

"But, I didn't kill them... I swear!"

"We believe you, Andy... But someone did..." Dean reassures him.

"I think I got a pretty good guess... Holly gave birth to twins..." Sam finishes, showing the birth certificate.

"I have an evil twin?"

"Your file says you were adopted by the Gallagher's... And your brother went to a family called Weems from upstate."

"What was my brother's name?"

"Anson Weems." Andy nods a 'no', not recognising the name. "He's got a local address..."

"He lives here?"

"Let's get a look at him. There's a picture coming from the DMV right now." Dean says in front of the copy machine. He hands it over to Andy.

"You must be kidding me..."

.

At the dinner, Tracy and Webber are about to close the place for the day. "Hey, Trace..." He asks her, throwing a dishcloth over his shoulder. "You and Andy, you guys went together for a while, didn't you?"

"Yeah, why?"

"I don't know, I was just wondering how you felt about him these days. I've seen you guys together. It seems like there's still something there. Were you guys ever, like, serious?"

"Hum... No..."

"Come on, Trace... Tell the truth..." He threatens her.

.

Eli is at her father's house, reading a book in the main room. Her legs tucked under her in the armchair. Bobby is busy with some papers on his desk. He stops and stares at her. "You really don't want to tell me what happened?"

"Nothing happened, Dad... This case was simple and they didn't really need me for it... So, I came back home... End of story..."

"Cupcake, I know you... I see it in your attitude... You're hiding something... And it seems to be painful as from what I can sense..."

"Dad... Please... I know you want to protect me and all... But, I'm an adult now... And I can deal with my own things..."

"See... I knew that something happened..."

She sighs heavily. "I didn't say that... Aren't you not happy to have me here with you?"

"Hum... Don't change the subject... Eli?... Eli?..." He rushes to her as he sees her fainting. He takes her in his arm and transports her to the coach. "Hey... What the hell?..." He checks her pulls and her breathing. "You felt asleep?... Did you catch mononucleosis or something?... Eli?..." She gently shakes her by the shoulders.

.

The Impala's driving back to the Dinner. "All right, Andy. Tell us everything you know about this guy." Sam asks.

"Not much actually. Webber shows up one day, like eight month ago... Acting like he's my best friend. Kind of weird, like trying too hard..." Andy explains.

"He must have known you guys are twins... Why change his name?... Why not just tell the truth?..." Dean wonders, parking the car in front of the coffee-shop. Sam and Andy are rushing out of it. "You take the front... I'll go to the back..." Sam tells Andy.

A few minutes later, they come back to Dean. "Nobody... All is locked up..." Sam says.

"Do you know his car?... Or Tracy's?" Dean asks Andy.

"Yeah!... And there are not here..." He answers a bit worried.

"Do you know Tracy's address?"

"Yeah!" They hop up in the car again.

.


	55. Chapter 54

Chapter 54

Eli slowly wakes up. "Damned! You scared the hell out of me! What was that?..." Her father says.

"Sorry, Dad... No time to explain right now... I have an urgent phone call to make first..." She gently pushes him aside, grabbing her cell phone and rushes outside.

"Sam?... It's Eli..."

"Sorry, Eli... It's really a bad timing for..."  
>"I made another mind-travel..." She cuts him. "Is there someone named Tracy in your case?... And a Webster?..."<p>

"Yeah, Webber!... Eli what did you see?..." Sam briskly asks her. "Dean, I think Eli knows something..." She hears him saying.

"The guy forced Tracy to get in his car... She was crying... He was talking about a brother and that she was in the way... And something else that was not making any sense..."

"What was not making any sense?..."

"He said that he would teach her to fly..."

"To fly?..."

"Yeah!..."

"Did you see anything that would help us to locate where they are heading to?..."

"I saw a road sign... Hum... Mountain something reservoir..."

"Andy, is there a Reservoir called Mountain something around here?..." Sam asks in the car.

"The Mountain Lion Dam... Why?"

"Thanks, Eli..."

"Sam, wait... I felt something weird... Like she was thinking one thing and doing the opposite... I don't know how to describe it in another way..."

"Yeah!... I'll give you all the details later, but we find two other kids like us... And their speciality is mind-controlling."

"Oh! That explains it... Be careful, okay... Both of you..."

"Will do... Call you later..."

.

Webber is slowing down as they arrive at the Dam. "I get it. I see what you see in Andy." He says to Tracy when he stops the car. "I mean, he's a genius... The books he reads? He's gonna be a great man someday. But he is my family, not yours!... You can't have him... And you're not gonna have anything after tonight..."

"Please... Let me go home..." Tracy weeps.

"STOP IT!" He commands her. "Now, I want you to undress... Slowly..." She reluctantly obeys. "And I want you to listen to me very carefully, okay?... When we're done here... I want you to head over to the edge of the Dam... And when you get there, you're gonna do like I told you earlier... You're just gonna step right off... Okay?" He tells her softly in her ear, giving her light kisses in her neck.

"Okay..." She whispers, tears rolling down her face.

.

Dean parks the Impala a little bit higher on the track, under cover from Webber's sight. The brothers are taking guns out of the trunk. "Did Eli say anything else?..." The elder asks Sam.

"About what?... The case?... Nope... Why?"

"For nothing... Just if she saw if he was armed or something..." He lies, checking if he has enough ammo.

"Dean... You should stay back..."

"No, no, no... I've had my head screwed with enough for one day..." He hands over another gun to his brother.

"I'm coming with you..." Andy requests... "It's Tracy out there... So, I'm coming..."

.

"You can fly, can't you?" Webber insists.

"Yes, I think so..." Tracy is terrified.

"You might get scared, but I want you to say that it is all safe..."

Suddenly his side window explodes. "Get out of the car, now!" Sam yells pointing his gun at him.

"You really don't wanna do this." Webber tries, confident. Sam sends him a knock right into his nose.

"Tracy?... Come here..." Andy opening the opposite door and grabbing her by the arms.

"I could not control myself..." She sobs.

Sam is throwing Webber on the floor. "Don't move!... Don't move!..." He puts tape over his mouth.

"I'm gonna kill you, Asshole!" Andy sending his foot into Webber's stomach.

"Hey! Let me handle this, all right?" Sam pushing him away.

"No, I'm gonna kill him!" He angrily says.

"Andy, listen to me... We'll deal with this." He doesn't notice that Tracy is picking up a wooden stick from the floor. She slams it on his head, knocking Sam out.

"Tracy... Stop... I said, stop!" Andy orders her, making her finally dropping her weapon. He turns to Webber that got rid of the tape over his mouth and just stares at him. "How did you command her without saying a work?"

"If you'd just practice, you would know bro…"

"You, Son of a Bitch!" Andy yells, grabbing him by the collar.

"Back off, Andy!... Or Tracy's gonna do a little flying…" Webber sneers.

.

Andy volte-faces to see her standing on the edge of the Dam, ready to jump.

"I'm stronger that you… I can make her do it…" Webber continues.

"Okay… Okay…" He replies, letting his brother loose. "All right, just please don't hurt her…"

"I know it's all wrong… I didn't mean for this to happen… It's just… Trace, she's trying to come between us…"

"You're insane!... You learn you got a twin, you call him up… You go out for a drink... You don't start killing people around!" Andy trying to calmly explain.

"I wanted to tell you for so long, bro… But, he didn't let me. He said I had to wait until the time was right…"

Sam slowly comes out of the blue, listened to the two guys talking.

"Who said that?" Andy asks, intrigued.

"The man with the yellow eyes…"

"What are you talking about?"

"He came to me, in my dreams. He said I was special… He told me he's got big plans for me. Wait till you see what's in store, Andy… For both of us… See, he's the one who told me that I had a brother… A twin…"

.

Dean arrives up the hill, overhanging the whole scene. He is preparing a long-range rifle, adapting the scope on top of it.


	56. Chapter 55

Chapter 55

"He came to me, in my dreams. He said I was special… He told me he's got big plans for me. Wait till you see what's in store, Andy… For both of us… See, he's the one who told me that I had a brother… A twin…" Webber still explaining to his brother.

"Why did you kill our mother?... And Doctor Jennings?" Andy asks.

"Because they split us up!... They ruined our lives, Andy… We could have been together this whole time… Instead of alone… I couldn't let them do that…" His twin explodes, full of madness in his eyes.

.

Dean lays down on the floor, arming his gun, putting his finger on the trigger and aiming at Webber. Down below, the evil twin slowly turns around, raising his gaze to him. "I see you… Bye bye…" He murmurs, waving at him.

Dean suddenly stops his gesture, raises from the ground and pointing the barrel against his chin.

A shot echoes around, making Sam jump in surprise. Webber sways, his eyes wide open looking at Andy, before falling flat on the ground. His twin slowly lowers the gun he has in his hand.

.

Andy tells a made-up story to the Sheriff Deputies that his brother unfortunately had killed himself. They just look at him, nodding 'yes' at each sentence. Sam and Dean are sitting a little bit further down the road.

Andy passes by the open ambulance where Tracy receives first aid, a blanket over her shoulders. He hesitates, staring at her. As she looks away, he continues his walk towards the brothers.

"She won't even look at me…" He sadly says.

"Yeah, she's pretty shaken up…" Sam replies.

"No, it's different… I never used my mind thing on her before last night… She's scared of me now…"

"Give her some time… And later, tell her the plain truth… If you still want that…" Dean gently smiles.

"Andy, I hate to do this, but we have to get out of here… Here, I wrote down my cell… You don't have to be alone on this, all right? If anything comes up, you call me…" Sam handing him a little square paper.

.

"Think I was right?" Sam says to Dean, going back to their car.

"About what?"

"Andy… He's a killer after all…"

"No, he's a hero… He saved his girlfriend and he saved my life…"

"Bottom line, he wasted somebody…"

"In a sort of self-defense way… At least, he's not a psycho… He was just pushed into that…" Dean still defending Andy.

"Webber was pushed, in his own way… Max Miller was pushed… I was pushed by Jessica's death…"

"What's your point, Sammy?"

"Right circumstances, everyone's capable of murder… But maybe he is testing us, pushing us to do things."

"Sam, we don't know what the Demon wants from you yet… So quit worrying already."

"Dean… I know you're scared as much as I am… Remember when Andy made you tell the truth?"

"That was mind-control!... It doesn't count…"

"What?"

"No, I'm calling it a do-over…"

"What? How old are you? Seven?"

"Doesn't matter… We gotta keep doing what we're doing, find that evil SOAB and kill it."

Sam's phones starts to ring. "Hello?... Eli? What going on?... Okay… Yeah! We'll take the road now…" He looks at Dean. "Ellen called Bobby… She wants us to pass by the Roadhouse… Eli is meeting us there."

.

They find Eli sitting at the counter, laughing with Ellen. As soon as she sees Dean, she stops, changing seats to be sure not having him next to her. Sam rolls his eyes, before sitting down.

"Jo… Go pull another case of beer… Now, please…" Ellen asks her daughter. "So, you wanna tell me about this last hunt of yours?" She comes as Jo left the room.

"No, not really… No offense. It's just kinda family thing…" Dean replies.

"Not anymore…" She throws a file in front of him. "I got this stuff from Ash… Andrew Gallagher's house burned down on his 6 month birthday… Just like yours… You think it was the Demon that went after that family too?"

"Yeah, we think so…" Sam whispers.

"Sam…" Dean warns him not to speak any further.

"Why?" Ellen asks turning to face Sam.

"None of your business…" The elder cuts again.

"You mind your tongue with me, boy! This isn't just your war… This is war… Something's big and bad is coming and fast!... And their side holds all the cards. Now at best, all we got is us… Together… No secrets or half-truths here…"

"There are people out there… Like Andy Gallagher… Like Eli and me… And, hum… We all have some kind of ability." Sam starts to explain.

"Ability?"

"Psychic ability… Me, I have visions, premonitions… Eli goes into mind travelling and recently hearing spirits…" He smiles. "It's different for everybody… The Demon said he had plans for people like us…"

"What kind of plans?"

"We don't know for sure…"

"These people out there… Are they dangerous?"

"No. Not all of them." Dean finally coming in the conversation.

"But some are…" Sam specifies.

"How many of them are we looking at?"

"We've been able to track a pattern… They had house fires the night of the kid's 6 month birthday." Dean continues.

"But, that's not true anymore…" The youngest intervenes.

"What?"

"Webber, or Anson Weems or whatever his name is. We looked at his files and there was no house fire. There's nothing out of the ordinary." Sam says, having a quick look at Eli that made the research for him.

"This breaks pattern… So, if there're others like him, there'll be nothing in the system… No way to track them all down." Ellen concludes.

"So, who knows how many of them are really out there?" Dean sipping on his beer.

"What pattern is broken? What's going on?" Jo asks, coming back from the stockroom.

"Why not putting a giant sign on our backs for everybody to know what's going on, huh?" Eli bursts out to Sam, leaving her stool and slamming the bar's door behind her.

"Eli…" Dean calls, before following her out.

.

"Come on… Ellen has connections everywhere… She can be of a great help…" Dean trying to calm her down. "I was not in favor telling her either, but second thought… It can be a bonus… With Ash helping us too…"

"You have lots of second thoughts lately..." She paces.

"Eli…" He sighs. "Okay, I'm sorry about what I said about that guy… I shouldn't have treating you like I did… I'm an asshole, all right… But listen, it's… Our job is so weird, so demanding… I'm already full of it by taking care of myself and Sam… Then you arrived… Adding another layer of concerns to the pile I already have…"

"A layer of concerns? That's all I am to you?" She cuts him.

"Yeah! Exactly! I'm fucking scared each time we're going on a hunt!... That something might happen to you… You get that!" He starts to yell.

"I can take care of myself… I don't need you!... So, don't worry!... And if that's not enough, I'll hunt with my father… So, I got totally out of your hands!..." She turns around, but briskly faces him again. "And I frigging know the dangers of our frigging job!... I didn't ask to feel what I feel… I would have preferred not, believe me… But, would it be so hard for you just telling me that you were not interested… You know, having a normal adult discussion about it, instead of trying everything for me to hate you!"

"Okay… You're done here?" He calmly says.

"Yeah!... I'm done!…" She goes for the bar again, but Dean grabs her by the arm, both looking at each other.

"I care about you, okay… I don't know if that will be enough for you or how far that will lead… But, that's all I can do for now…" He murmurs.

Without another word, she gently gets loose of his grip and enters the saloon.


	57. Chapter 56

Chapter 56

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. A young woman is complaining to her new janitor over the phone, saying the lights are flickering. "I checked the fuses, they're fine… It's the wiring… Look, you promised this place would be ready when I moved in… No! You come up now!... Please… Thank you." She hangs up and puts her wireless phone on the coffee table. She spots a black sticky stain. "Gross!" Another drop falls on her white blouse. Suddenly, she hears strange noises coming from inside the walls. She stands up and goes nearby one of the outlets on the wall, the same black substance pouring out of it. "What the hell?" She looks closer at the socket and sees an eye on the other side. She starts to scream.

.

The trio has another meeting at Ellen's Roadhouse. Coming out of the car, they hear loud women voices inside.

"Oooowwww… Cat fight!" Dean says, nearly enjoying it.

They quietly enter the bar.

"I am your mother… I don't have to be reasonable!" Ellen yells.

"You can't keep me here!" Jo retorts.

"Don't you bet on that!"

"What are you gonna do, chain me up in the basement?"

"Okay, you don't wanna stay, don't. Go back to school!"

"I don't belong there. I was a freak!"

"Yeah, but getting yourself killed on a back road, that's where you belong?"

Jo notices the brothers and Eli, waiting in the entrance and stops arguing, making Ellen turn around. "Guys, really bad timing!"

"Wait. I wanna know what they think about this." Her daughter says.

"I don't care what they think!" The phone starts to ring, obliging Ellen to pick it up.

It gives Jo the opportunity to hand over a file to Dean. "Three weeks ago, a young girl disappears from a Philadelphia apartment… This girl wasn't the first. Over the past 80 years, six women have vanished… All from the same building, all single young women… Only happens every decade or two, so cops never get a pattern…" She explains.

Dean leafs through the file. "Who put this together? Ash?"

"I did it myself." Jo answers.

"I gotta admit we usually hit the road for a lot less." Sam comments.

Ellen hangs up the phone. "Good. You like the case so much, take it!"

"Mom…"

"Joanna Beth, I had enough of your talk. You ain't going and that's final… I don't want loose you too!"

.

Sam picks the lock of the apartment in Philadelphia.

The two brothers are checking for EMF signs. "Getting anything?" Dean asks.

"No, not yet…" Sam comes closer to the socket on the wall. The EMF reacts. "What's that?" He touches the black substance, rolling it between his thumb and his index and sniffing it. "Holy crap!"

Dean approaches to check his brother finding. "That's Ectoplasm!"

"I've only seen this stuff like, twice?... I mean, to make this stuff, you have to be one majorly pissed-off spirit."

"All right, let's find this bad-ass before he snaps any more girls." Dean going back for the entrance door.

.

In the hallway, they hear Eli talking with the janitor. "It's seems to be a nice place." She says.

"It's a great building. They fixed it up real nice. And all the apartments come furnished too." He explains her.

"It is so spacious. A friend of mine told me about this place and now that I'm moving in this town, I'm pleased to see she was right. You do not imagine how scared I was to wandering down the streets, visiting a gazillion places…" She laughs.

"You gonna like it here, Miss…"

She lifts her gaze and sees the brothers coming towards them. "There you are, honey!" She maliciously smiles. "This is my boyfriend Dean and his brother Sam." She introduces them to the janitor.

"Good to meet you…" They shake hands.

"So, did you already check at the apartment?" She asks them.

"Yeah!"

"Oh please, tell me you liked it" She pleads, crawling in Dean's arms.

"I liked it! Really… Nice place!" He manages to say, a bit surprise by Eli's sudden girly-all-in-love attitude.

"How did you get in?" The caretaker asks.

"Oh! It was open… Though we could visit it…"

"Now… Ed right?" He nods 'yes'. "When did the last tenant move out?" Eli questions.

"About a month ago… Cut and run, too… With unpaid rent, on top of it!"

"Well, her loss, our gain. Because, if Dean loves it, it's good enough for me." Eli cheerfully says.

"Oh, Sweetie…" Dean punching her butt, making her jumps a bit.

"Done!... We'll take it!" She grabs a roll of bills out of her purse. "Suppose this will be enough for the deposit and the next 2 month… I'll come and sign the papers… Let's say by tomorrow or two days… What's more convenient for you."

"Huh… Well… Okay… I'll put the papers in your mailbox. So, you'll bring them back to me signed." Ed says taking the money.

.

"Next time you build up a plan like that, I'd like to be informed ahead… Mind you!" Dean says, checking one of his guns on the apartment table.

"I didn't make a plan when we arrived here… But, I heard the janitor on the phone with a couple that was interested in the apartment… If I didn't start to show my interest in this place to take it immediately, we would have a bit of a problem to do our job, mind you!" Eli retorts.

"Okay! I'm begging you, not another fight!… Please, enough!" Sam pleads. "Dean, it's not such a bad move, thinking of it… We can work on the place with any law violations in our books for once…"

"What I wonder is how you get all that money from?" The elder asks Eli.

"Personal Savings!" She ironically replies.

Dean's phone starts to ring. "Yeah?..."

"Is she with you?" Ellen's angry voice coming out of the speaker.

"Ellen?... Hi… If you mean Jo, no she's not…" Moving away the phone from his ear.

"Don't lie to me!... She left a note that she's in Vegas and I don't buy it…"

"Truth… She's not here…"

"Please, if she shows up… You'll drag her ass back here, will you?"

"Absolutely…"

"Okay… Thanks, Honey… And sorry about the yelling!" She hangs up.

"We got a small problem… Jo ran from the Roadhouse and Ellen things she might come here." Dean explains to the two others.


	58. Chapter 57

Chapter 57

"We got a small problem… Jo ran from the Roadhouse and Ellen things she might come here." Dean explains to the two others.

"Great!... Such a right timing for the young princess flying to meet her sweet prince!" Eli mutters in a slight jealous tone, that Dean prefer not to comment.

"There's not much we can do about Jo right now, right?... So, could we please talk a bit about our case?..." Sam gently asks, spreading out blueprints of the building. "This place was built in 1924..." He starts when Dean and Eli are next to him. "It was originally a warehouse, converted into apartments a few months ago."

"What was here before 1924?" His brother asks.

"Nothing. Empty field."

"So, most likely scenario, someone died bloody in the building. And now he's back and raising hell." Eli concludes.

"Already checked that. In the past 82 years, zero violent deaths… Nothing, zilch, nada…"

"Maybe a cursed object that brought a spirit with it?... For that we gotta scan the whole building, everywhere we can get to." The elder continues.

There are soft knocks on the entrance door. Dean goes checking and opens it wide to let Jo enter.

"Hi guys… So, what did you find already?" She joyfully says, putting her bag on the floor and coming to the table.

"Found the next bus schedule to…" Eli briskly starts.

"Your mom called and I promised her to drag your sorry ass back to the Roadhouse ASAP!" Dean cuts her.

"Oh! Come on… Now that I'm here, let me at least help you with something…" Jo pleads.

"Yeah! How did you get on our door anyways?"

"Told the Janitor I was your little sister…" She smiles to Eli.

"Oh dear… Okay, big sis has serious business to attend, so baby Jo will be a sweet little girl and will pronto go back to mummy dearest!"

"Stop talking to me like I'm 5!..." Jo going angry.

"Well act like an adult and maybe I'll reconsider!" She replies, raising her voice too.

"It's my frigging file!… I build it up… I worked hard to find the Intel…"

"Don't care!… We have it now…"

"What's your problem?"

"My main problem right now is you encroaching my territory… "

"You're really no fun to be around!" Jo giggles.

"You really think this is all funny! That this is just a frigging game!... It's dangerous out there… One little mistake and you end up dead!"

"I know how to fight… You want a round or two with me? I'm sure I'll kick your ass, no problem!"

"All right, all right, ladies… Let's take a deep breath here and cool off the steam, will ya… Eli, Sam… You start the search floor by floor… Jo, you come with me… I'll take you back to the bus stop… And that's final! Don't wanna hear another word!" Dean yelling above the two women. "Jesus!... Women..." He sighs, grabbing Jo's bag and inviting her to calmly follow him. "I'll join you as soon as Missy is safe on the bus…" He says before closing the door.

.

"Can we at least have dinner before I leave?... It's a long drive…" Jo says in the car.

"We'll pass a take away… If you think I'm gonna let you one second out of my sight, you're wrong."

"Why can't I do this job with you? Is it a kind of macho thing?... Women can't do it or something?..."

"Nothing to do with gender, sweetheart… Women can do the job fine… Amateurs can't… You got no experience. What you do have is a bunch of half-backed romantic notions that some barflies put in your head… Jo, you got a mother that is worried about you. That wants something better for you than this…" Dean gently explains.

"She really hates me, huh?" Jo changing the subject.

"Who? Your mother?"

"Eli… Is there finally something between you or not?"

"First: None of your business… And second: No, Eli doesn't hate you… She knows what this job means and when someone as young as you come in like it's a freaking video game, that is making her mad… That is making me mad!... That's all. Nothing personal…"

"You definitively like her… Taking her defense like that!" She maliciously smiles.

"Shut up, Jo!"

.

Eli is checking the top floor. She walks her EMF detector a little bit everywhere in the hallway. She suddenly smells a weird scent coming out of the cellar frame. The needle of her device starts to go crazy as soon as she approaches it.

"The vents… Of course…" She whispers. She takes a screwdriver in her shoulder bag and removes the iron grid. She wanders her flashlight in the hole. She spots something hanging a little bit lower in the vent. She lays down on the floor, putting her whole arm in it. She brings it back out and discovers a lock of hair with some blood glued on it. "Bingo!"

.

Two floors below, in another apartment, a young woman starts to scream as a hand is grabbing her leg and pulls her through the air duct.

.

It's morning; Dean is sleeping in an uncomfortable couch, softly snoring. Eli is in front of the kitchen table, following the vent lines on the building plan, memorizing them. He wakes up at the sound of a police siren passing by. He looks around before remembering where he is.

"Morning Princess…" Eli jokes.

"Where's Sam?" He says in a husky voice.

"Went out get your coffee, your Majesty…"

He slowly rises from the couch, wincing. "Damn, my back…"

"I proposed you the bed…"

"Yeah! I know… I'll pay my excess in knighthood… What are you looking at?" He sits next to her.

"Memorizing the vent lines of the building, seeing if something was leading somewhere… A hidden room… A secret passage… Anything…"

"Find any yet?"

"No, nothing conclusive… I was wondering how John would…" She abruptly stops, looking at Dean.

"I miss him too, you know…" He gently says.

"Tell me the first thing that pops in your head right now, thinking about him…" She smiles.

He takes a moment to recall. "I was 6 or 7… And he took me shooting for the first time. You know bottles on a fence, that kind of things. I bull's-eyed every one of them… He gave me that smile, like… I don't know…" He narrates her in a soft voice.

"He must have been proud… I wish I knew him a bit longer… I wish I had the time to tell him how much… Everything he did for me..." She whispers, her eyes getting wet.

"He knew, Eli…" He answers, taking her hand in his. "You could tell just by the way he pronounced 'angel' when he was talking to you… But, hey… I'm sure you got some sweet stories with your dad too… Come on, tell me how Bobby was when he was younger..." He smiles.

She looks amused. "I remember him coming home from one of his hunts, picking me up from Miss Wayne, an old lady that I consider as my granny and babysits me when he was gone. He'd burst through her door like Steve McQueen or something and he'd sweep me up in his arms. I loved to breathe in that old leather jacket of his… That was a happy moment…"

"Bobby in leather jacket!... I have to ask him to show me that when we go back…" Dean laughs.

Sam briskly opens the door.

"Where's the coffee?" His brother asks.

"There are cops outside… Another girl disappeared…" He replies, out of breath.

.


	59. Chapter 58

Chapter 58

Sam and Eli are once again going through everything they have on this building, when Dean returns from his investigation. "Theresa Ellis, apartment 2F. Reported missing around dawn." He explains.

"Could you enter the place?" Sam asks.

"Yep! Cracks all over the plaster, walls, ceiling… There was ectoplasm too…"

"Between that and that hair you found…" The youngest looking at Eli. "I'd say this sucker's coming from the walls and not per se the vents…"

"Yeah, but who is it?... Building history is totally clean…" Dean says.

Eli going through some old pictures picks up one of them. "Damn… How could we have missed that!… Guys, maybe we're looking in the wrong place…"

"What do you mean?" The elder questions.

"Check this out… That empty field you see is where the building was build… Take a look at the one next door… The windows…"

"Bars..." Sam softly mouth.

"We're next to a old prison?..." Dean taking the picture from her hands.

She starts to search on her laptop. "Got it… Moyamensing prison, build in 1835, torn down in 1963… And look… They used the empty field next door to execute people by hanging them…" She reads from the screen.

"We'll need a list of all the people executed there… I call Ash…" Sam already grabbing his phone.

.

"You've got mail, Sir…" The animated valet from Sam's Email system, holding a tray with a letter on it, pompously annouces. He opens the link.

"A hundred fifty-seven names?" He looks surprised on the list that's scrolling down in front of his eyes.

"We gotta narrow that down… Or we're stuck here for years…" Dean replies.

"Herman Webster Mudgett?" The younger brother suddenly stops at that name.

"What?" Eli comes.

"Wasn't that H.H. Holmes real name?"

"You gotta be kidding me…" Dean turning Eli's laptop and starts to type on the keyboard. "Yup! Holmes was executed at Moyamensing May 7th, 1896…"

"H.H. Holmes, himself… Come one, I mean, what are the odds?" Sam smiles to his brother.

"Could one of you enlighten me, please?" Eli asks, feeling a bit out of the brothers conversation.

"You don't know that, Smartass?" Dean gently mocks her. "The term 'multi-murderer' was invented to describe Holmes… He was America's first serial killer… Before anybody knew what that was." He explains her.

"He confessed to 27 murders… Some put the death total over a hundred…" Sam continues.

"And his victim flavor of choice?"

"Let me guess… Young, isolated, pretty women?" Eli smirks to Dean.

"He used chloroform to kill them…" He says.

"That was the swell I discover in the hallway yesterday!… I couldn't put a finger on it…" She raises from her chair.

"At his place, cops found human remains… Bone fragments and long locks of bloody hair…" Dean reading from the period newspaper he found on the Internet.

"Okay… We just need to find the bones, salt them and burn them…" Eli concludes.

"This time, I don't think it's gonna be that easy… His body is buried in town… But, it's encased in a couple tons of concrete…" He continues.

"Why?"

"The story goes that he didn't want anybody mutilating his corpse… Because, that's what he used to do to his victims."

"You know something? We might have an even bigger problem…" Sam looking at some other documents from the file on the table. "Holmes built an apartment building in Chicago. They called it the Murder Castle. The whole place was a death factory. They had trapdoors, acid vats, quicklime pits… He built these secrets chambers… Inside the walls… He'd lock his victims in; keep them alive for days… Some he'd suffocate, others he'd let starve to death…"

"Charming… So, means Theresa could still be alive inside these walls?" Eli showing the one behind her.

"We need sledgehammers, crowbars… We gotta smash these walls anywhere thick enough to hide someone…" Dean already on the move.

"Okay, let's do this…" Eli following him.

"No, no, no, no… You stay here. We'll give you on time info on which portion we searched… You'll follow our progression on the maps… To be sure we did miss anything… You, wandering in those walls, is a risk I don't want to take… It'll be safer in the apartment…" He gently explains her.

"Put your cell phones in walkie-talkie…" Sam orders.

.

"I'm almost done with the first floor… Found jack squat!" Sam says.

"Okay, call me back when you check the South-East wall… Dean, where are you?"

"Hum… North wall, I'm in front of a narrow portion… I'm gonna try to fit in there, but I've to put my phone away for a sec'…" Dean trying to make his way through between the inner walls.

"Good… Marked you on my map…"

After struggling a bit to continue his way, he arrives on a dead-end, the only exit in down. "Oh God! I'm getting too old for this!" He mumbles, clinging on the pipes, trying to find some holes to put his feet. "Eli, I'm heading down some air duct… You got that?" He says before totally disappearing under the floor.

"Copy that…" She says, marking with the highlighter the portion Dean just mentioned. A drop of the black substance suddenly falls on her map. "Oh no…" She softly lets out.

"What is it?" Sam asks. The reception starts to have a lot of interferences. "Eli?..." He calls. "Eli?... Dean? Do you hear me?..."

"What?" Dean comes.

"Eli is not answering anymore…"

They both hear an interrupted scream. "ELI?... FOR CHRIST SAKE, ANSWER ME!" The elder yells in his phone, already going back up where he came from. He gets frustrated not to be able to run in this narrow passage. He calls her over and over, but gets no answer back. He finally arrives at the apartment, that he founds empty, just a left over ectoplasm on the edge of the vent. He grabs the sledgehammer and starts to knock down the wall. With his flashlight, he looks inside it. A few steps away, he discovers her cell phone. "ELI?... ELI?" He screams at random.

.


	60. Chapter 59

Chapter 59

Sam finally arrives at the apartment too.

"He's got Eli?" A panicked Dean says. "I thought she would be safe here… Damn it!"

"Look, we'll find her… Okay…" Sam tries to calm him down.

"Where?"

"Inside the walls…"

"We've been inside these walls all night. None of the other girls are there… She won't be either." He's walking in circles, nervously.

"Okay… Let's take a beat and think about this… Maybe we got Holmes' M.O. wrong…" Sam already at the table, looking at their file.

"Well, we better frigging think fast, man!" Dean slammers, when his phone rings. "What!" He briskly answers.

"Did you put my daughter on the bus?"

"Ellen?… Yeah!..."

"What time is the bus due…" She continues.

"Ellen, I'm sorry but… This is really not a good time…"

"Why?... What's happening?"

"Eli vanished…"

"What?"

"The spirit we're hunting took her…"

"Oh my God!… I understand… I'm sorry… Keep me informed, will ya?" Dean already cuts the line.

"Damn it!... Damn it!... Damn it!..."

"Dean, don't heat yourself up… There's nothing you could have done…"

"That's why I never wanted to have a…" He sighs, not finishing his sentence. "Tell me you got something, man…" He approaches the table.

"Maybe… Look at the layout… There's other torture chambers inside the walls, right?" Sam starts to explain, Dean nodding 'yes'. "But, there's one we haven't considered yet… The one in his basement."

"This building doesn't have a basement…"

"Right… But, I just noticed this…" The youngest points on the map. "Beneath the foundation, looks like part of an old sewer system that hasn't been used for ages…"

"Let's go…" Dean cuts his brother, already going out.

.

Eli wakes up in the dark, laying on a cold ground. She tries to move, but every time she hits a wall. She carefully rummages in her jeans pocket and grabs a little flashlight. She turns it on and realizes she's locked in a sort of horizontal box. At the ceiling, she sees scratches left by nails; probably from previous victims. She has a moment of panic that she tries to control by taking deep breathes. She points her light on the left, there an iron door with a slit in the middle. She looks through it. In fact, she is in a circular hard stones room with several boxes like hers. "Hello?" She slyly tries.

"Is anybody there?" Another voice answers.

"Your name is Theresa?" Eli asks.

"Yes…"

"This won't probably make you feel better, but I'm here to rescue you…"

"Oh God!... He's out there… He's gonna kill us!..." Theresa's complete body shaking from the terror.

"No, he won't… We're getting out. My friends are looking for us as we speak. They'll find us!" She tries to comfort her as much as herself.

"Oh God!... He's here!" The young woman yells, as they hear steps coming.

"Just be quiet!" Eli orders, giving another look through the slit. Suddenly, a black hand grabs her by the hair. She cannot do anything else than screaming as he pulls out a lock.

.

On the street around the block, Sam is holding a metal detector, sweeping it on the ground. The needle starts to get wild when they arrive at the back of the building, on a small wasteland. A few steps further, the devise goes completely nuts. "Here!" He says.

Dean starts to dig with the shovel he brought. He soon hits something hard. They sweep the rest of the earth with their hands to discover a massive manhole cover.

"Got it?" Sam asks his brother as he takes one of the two handles.

"Yeah!" They both lift the heavy plate. Deans hands Sam a shotgun. He turns on a flashlight and starts to get down the iron bares fixed in the wall as a ladder, his brother right behind him.

.

Eli kicks against the metal door several times to test its resistance, but she has to stop, exhausted. She gives another look in the slit, but directly moves back as she sees a bearded mouth on the other side. "You're so pretty…" The man's voice whispers. "So beautiful…" He heavily breathes.

"Go to hell!" She hurls. The hand comes back in the box. She presses herself against the opposite wall, turning her back on it. It caresses her hair, her neck. She tries not to scream. It descends now to her shoulder, her arm. She briskly turns around; picking it with the retractable little knife she always carried with her. "How do you like that, huh?" She yells, as the hand disappeared into smoke. "Pure Iron, you creepy-ass son of a bitch!"

.

The boys having a hard time progressing through the confined sewer tunnel, obliged to crawl into an inch of stagnant water. Each time they see a crossing, they check if there is no hidden place or a back room.

.

"Is he gone?" Theresa asks Eli.

"I don't know, I…" Suddenly two dirty black hands are grabbing her arm, making her drop the knife. She wants to scream, but one of the hands covers her mouth.

"Chhhhhh…" The spirit whispers, pressing it with more force against her face. She struggles to breath, but it won't let her move. She slowly falls into unconsciousness.

.


	61. Chapter 60

Chapter 60

"Hey!..." A loud voice yells from behind. The spirit turns around and receives a rock salt gunshot in the chest, making it disappeared into the sewer hole on the other side of the room.

"ELI?" Dean screams as he punches open the iron grid. He frantically looks in the slits of several boxes to discover some empty, others with bodies in different stages of decomposition. "Eli?" He tries again.

Sam finds Theresa. "Hold on… We're gonna get you out of here, all right?…" He starts to unlock her prison door.

"I don't know what he did to her, but she stops making noises since he touched her…" Theresa tells him.

"Got her!... She's unconscious…" Dean having a hard time to break the lock. "Hang in there, Eli!... Come on... Come on..." Getting all worked up. It finally cracked open. He slips one arm under her neck, the other under her knees and gently slides her out of the box. "Oh damn!... Sam!" He calls, putting her down on the floor, checking for wounds and blood.

"Man, we have to get her out of here... It may come back any minute..." His brother already on the alert, keeping Theresa close to him to reassure her.

"How will it be possible to bring her back to the surface?... The tunnel is too narrow... Eli, you have to wake up, Hun..." He gives her light taps on her cheeks. She suddenly comes out of the blue and starts to struggle as she feels someone touching her. "Hey... Hey... It's me... It's Dean!... You're all right..." She swings her arms around him, letting out some sobs. "Thank God, I found you... I would have never forgive myself... Oh dear... I'm here... Holding you..." Rocking her softly, kissing her on top of her head.

"You got him?" She whispers, still pretty shaken up.

"Temporarily... Rock salt... He will be back soon..." He says, sweeping away some dirt she has on her face.

"We have to get out of here..." She starts to get up.

"You're okay?" He's helping her.

"Yeah!... I think so..."

"We can't let the bastard snatching another victim... We have to prevent him to harm again... And we thought of a plan... But..." Dean staring at Eli.

"Oh, oh... When you have that look, it's bad news for me..."

"Well... The only way we figure out is using you as bait... We need to attract him back in this room..." He explains.

Eli's eyes widened.

.

She is sitting in the middle of the place, waiting. She takes deep breathes to try to stay as calm as possible. A black shadow is slowly forming in her back. She hears him grumbling. He approaches her carefully. All her senses in alert, she waits for the signal. He advances his hand towards her neck.

"Now!" Dean yells. She ducks flat on the ground, while Sam and him are shooting at a bag above the opposite entrance tunnel, salt nicely making the end of the circle they prepared beforehand. The spirit looks around, understanding that he's trapped. Eli goes up and runs for the door, where Dean grabs her by the arm, closing the grid behind her. Holmes starts to scream. "No... No... No..." He looks at the salt all around the room.

"Scream all you want, you dick... You're trapped for life!" She barks, releasing the fear she still had in her.

Dean closes the iron door, leaving the spirit yelling his lungs out.

.

"Thought this time, I would never gulping any fresh air again." She tells Sam, taking deep breathes.

"I can imagine how scary that was down there..." He answers, taking her in his arms. "I'm so relieved we found you!"

"Yeah!... Me too... Knowing his hiding place was not in that building made me panic at first... It was like I couldn't thing straight any more... I don't even tried to use my mind traveling thing, can you imagine that?"

"You would have think of it, eventually... At a certain point..." Sam leaving his embrace.

"Hey, what is somebody finds that sewer?" She asks, looking down the hole. "Or a storm washes the salt away?"

"We though of that... Which is why we're waiting here right now..." Sam smiles.

"For what?"

"For that!" He turns her around to show her the cement mixer coming backwards. From the rear-view mirror, she spots Dean behind the steering-wheel of the truck.

"Hold!" Sam yells when it comes right above the sewer.

Dean comes out of the cabin and helps his brother to place the drainpipe on the edge of the hole.

"You ripped off a concrete truck?" She laughs.

"I'll give it back, promise!" The elder smirks, pulling on the chain that opens the trap and let the cement pouring in. "Well, that ought to keep him down there till hell freezes over!" He looks at Eli and gives her his most beautiful smile.

.

Back in the apartment, Eli is taking some clean clothes from her duffel. "I really need a shower... I can still smell that filthy sucker on me..." She shudders just by thinking of it.

"Okay... Meanwhile, we'll pack our stuff... Take your time..." Dean gently says.

"Guys?..." She turns around to face the brothers. "Thanks for... Not letting me down there..."

"Hey... Don't mention... We're a team now, right?" Dean smiling at her.

"Right... But thanks again... Hum... And would it be possible to leave that story out of the future conversations with my dad's?... You know... He's still trying to put me out of the circuit... So, I prefer not giving any more arguments..."

"Yeah... No problem..." Sam answers.

.

A moment later, she comes out of the bathroom, rubbing her wet hair with a towel.

"Feeling better?" Dean asks.

"Yeah!... Where's Sam?"

"Out, getting us some Chinese... You must be starving..." She's arranges her bag. "Eli?..." He approaches her. "I... I'm sorry..."

"What for?"

"I though you would be safe in here, while we were checking the walls..."

"I know... Dean, it's okay... I'm not holding anything against you... We know the risks of our job... And hey, you saved me... Look, I'm alive and kicking..." She tries to joke.

"Knowing you somewhere with that crazy-ass... That he might have... I'd... Damned!... That made me going nuts..."

She softly strokes his cheek. "Dean... Stop worrying, okay... Yes, I was scared down there... But, I trust you... I knew you would come for me... So, please have a little trust in me too, will you?..." He slowly closes up the space they still had between them. He takes her head between his hands and kisses her softly on her lips.

.


	62. Chapter 61

Chapter 61

Dean walks in a hallway, a nasty look on his face. He checks the magazine of his gun, clapping it once against the grip and putting it back in place. He arrives in front of a door.

Eli, tied up on a chair, jolts when she hears the sound of the lock going open. She slowly raises her head to face the person that just entered. "No... No... No... You're not gonna... Dean, I swear, it's not in me..." She pleads.

"Oh God, we're all gonna die..." A young nurse whispers in the back of the room.

"Maybe she's telling the truth?" A tall black guy says.

"It's not her, not anymore..." Dean comes angrily.

"Stop it!... Please, Dean... Ask the doctor! It's not in me!" She comes again, tears coming out of her eyes.

He looks at the doctor, waiting her answer. "I just... I can't tell... I'm sorry…" The woman medic stutters in fear.

"Come on... You're not gonna shoot her like that!" A young man says in a trembling voice.

"Dean, I'm begging you… Listen to me... Don't... I swear... It's still me... You gotta believe me..."

"I have no other choice, Eli... We can't take the risk… Please forgive me..." He's aiming his gun at her, an inscrutable face.

She lowers her head, waiting for the detonation, closing her eyes. He pulls the trigger and the bullet goes...

.

"Sam?... It's me, Eli..." He hears in a distance. "You felt from the bed..." He opens his eyes to see her bended over him. "You got another seizure, right?"

"Oh, Eli... I..." He slowly raises from the floor when Dean comes in the room with a 6 pack in one hand and a white paper-bag in the other. He sees Eli astride on Sam's lap, both laying on the floor.

"What's going on here?" He asks a bit surprised.

.

"Continue on OR-224 West." The metallic voice from the GPS advises.

"There are only two towns in the US names 'Rivergrove'" Sam says.

"How come you're so sure it's the one in Oregon?" Dean asks.

"There was a picture of Crater Lake in my vision..."

"Okay, what else?"

"Above all, don't forget the part where he shoots me in cold blood!" Eli comes from the back seat. Dean looks at her from the rear-view mirror, not really knowing what to say.

"I saw a dark room, some people and Eli tied up on a chair..."

"And I just wasted her?"

"Yeah... You thought there was something inside her..."

"A Demon?... Was she possessed?"

"Don't try to find a good excuse for what you did!..." Eli says.

"I don't know... Eli, maybe it means something else... That you're just part of it and not be the one targeted." Sam tries.

"The thing you have is called visions, Sam... Not dreams... And since you got them they turn out to be 100% accurate!" She cuts without letting up.

"What do you expect me to say, huh?... That I'm sorry for something that didn't happen yet?" Dean starting to get angry.

"To be sorry after it happens will be obviously too late!..."

"Will you please stop jumping on each other's throat every single frigging day? Get a room, make love once and for all and get over it... I swear, next motel, I lock you up together in a room!... I'm up to here with both of you!" Sam jumping out of his skin. He looks at them, both speechless, mouth wide open.

After a wavering moment, Dean takes back the train of thoughts. "Ahum... All your visions are tied to the Yellow-Eyed Demon somehow... Was there any black smoke?... Did we try to exorcise her?"

"No... Nothing... You just plugged her... That's it." Sam calmly replies this time.

"I'm sure I had a good reason to come to that extreme ending..." Dean giving another quick look in the mirror. Eli, her arms crossed on her chest is looking through the window.

"I sure hope so..." Sam says.

"What's that suppose to mean?... You know, I'm not gonna kill her if she innocent..."

"I never said you would..."

"Fine..."

.

They arrive in Rivergrove. Dean parks the car on the main street. Sam looks around and spots the black guy from his vision. "That's one of the people that were in the room." He says to Dean.

They both go to talk to him, while Eli stays in the car.

"Morning…" They greet him.

"Morning…" He answers. "Can I help you?"

"Yeah! Billy Gibbons… Frank Beard… US Marshals…" Dean & Sam showing their badges.

"What's this about?"

"We're looking for someone." Dean starts.

"A young man, early twenties… He'd have a thin scar right below his hairline…" Sam continues.

"What did he do?"

"Well, nothing… We're actually looking for someone else… We think this young man can help us…"

"Hum…" The black guy seeming reluctant to cooperate.

Dean notices a tattoo on his forearm. "I think maybe you know who he is, master sergeant." He smiles. "My dad was in the Corps… Corporal…"

"What company?"

"Echo 21."

"So, can you help us?" Sam gently requests.

"Duane Tanner's got a scar like that. But I know him. He's a good kid…" The man finally answers.

"Oh! I'm sure he is. Do you know where he lives?"

"Whit is family… Up Aspen Way…"

"Thank you…"

.

The trio walks up the street, when Sam hits a wooden pylon. He sees an inscription engraved on it. "Hey…" He points it at his brother.

"Croatoan…" Dean slowly pronounces.

"Yeah!... Roanoke? Lost Colony? Ring a bell?... Dean, did you pay any attention in history class?" The elder keeps silence, his eyes up, trying to recall any details of that story. "Roanoke was one of the first English colonies in America, late fifteen hundred's…" Sam continues.

"Oh yeah… Yeah… I do remember that. The only think they left behind was a single word carved in a tree… Croatoan…" Dean finally having a clue.

"Yeah!... And I mean there were theories, Indian raid, disease… Nobody knows what really happened. They were all just gone… Like wiped out overnight…"

"You don't think that's what's going on here? I mean…" Eli asks.

"Whatever I saw in my head, it sure wasn't good…"

"Tell me about it…" She gives a side look to Dean.

"But, what do you think could do that?" Sam quickly continues before his brother could retaliate.

"Well, like I said… All your weirdo visions are always tied to the Yellow-eyed Demon somehow… So…" The elder comes.

"We should get help… Bobby, Ellen maybe?..."

"Yeah, that's a good idea." Dean takes his cell phone out of his jeans pocket. "I don't have a signal."

The two others are looking for theirs. "I don't either." Sam says first.

"Nope… Dead!" Eli checking too.

A little further down the street, they spot a payphone. "Line's out." Dean hanging the horn back. "I'll tell you one thing. If I was gonna massacre a town… That'd be my first step, cutting communications."

.


	63. Chapter 62

Chapter 62

On a side country road, they find the Tanner's house. "Eli, you go check the back of the house… While Sam and I are gonna see if Duane is home." Dean says. They knock on the door, a young man opens it.

"Yes?" He politely asks.

"Hi…" Dean shows his badge again. "Looking for Duane Tanner. He lives here, right?"

"He's my brother…"

"Can we talk to him?"

"He's not here right now."

"You know where he is?"

"Yeah… He went to a fishing trip up by Roslyn Lake."

"You're parents home?"

"Yeah… They're inside…"

"Jake? Who is this?" A man's voice comes from behind. The young man makes a step aside to let his father come to the door.

"US Marshals, Sir… We are looking for your son Duane." Dean recites again.

"Why? He's not in trouble, is he?"

"No, we just need to ask him a couple routine questions… When's he due back from his trip?"

"I'm not sure." The father says, thinking a bit too much on the answer.

"Well… Maybe your wife knows."

"You know, I don't know… She's not here right now." Mr. Tanner comes hesitant.

"Your son said she was…"

"Did I?" Jake says, faking surprise.

"She's getting groceries… When Duane gets back, is there a number where he can get you?" The father asks.

"Oh, well… We'll just check in with you later then."

The brothers go down the entrance stairs. "That was kinda creepy, right?" Dean says.

"Big time…" Sam replies. They hear a whistle on their left side.

"Guys… Think you need to see this…" Eli whispers.

.

In the kitchen, Mrs. Tanner is tied up on a chair, a gag in her mouth. Jake is bending over her. "It's okay, mum… It's not gonna hurt." He whispers in her ear. The father approaches with a big kitchen knife and cuts his son in the arm. The trio is getting ready to step in, arming their handguns. Mr Tanner now makes an incision in his wife shoulder to let Jake's blood dropping in the wound.

Dean kicks the kitchen door open, Sam and Eli rushing inside, guns aiming each one of them.

"No!" The father screams, running towards them, raising the knife.

"Put it down!" Eli yells. He makes another step, she opens fire. Dean next to her shoots another 2 bullets in his chest. Jake takes an impulse and jumps across the window, Sam following him. He hesitates to pull the trigger, letting the young man the time to escape behind bushes.

.

They rush back in town with the injured mother, taking her to the Medical Clinic.

"Hello?... We need a doctor here!" Sam calls.

"Mrs. Tanner? What happened?" A young nurse arrives.

"She's been attacked…" Eli shortly explains.

"Dr Lee?" She yells.

The doctor enters, making Mrs. Tanner's breaking into tears. "Bring her in." She says. Dean finally shows up, carrying a dead Mr Tanner over his shoulder. "Is that?... Was he attacked too?"

"No, actually, he did the attacking and then he gets himself shot." The elder explains.

"Shot?... And who are you?"

"US Marshal… I'd show you my badge, but…" Showing her the weight he still had on his back.

"Oh, sorry… Bring him back here…" She leads him the way to her examination room.

"They were both in my vision…" Sam softly tells Eli. She nods in understanding.

.

"Wait, you say Jake helped him?... Your son Jake?" The doctor questioning Mrs. Tanner.

"Yes… They beat me… Tied me up…" She sobs.

"I don't believe it…" The young nurse intervenes.

"Pam…" The doc softly asks her to stop commenting.

"Beverly, you've any idea why they would act this way? Any history of chemical dependency?"

"No, of course not… I don't know why… One minute, they were my husband and son… And the next, they had the devil in them." Mrs. Tanner explains.

The trio is looking at each other. "We gotta talk. " Dean murmurs. They all go into another room, safe from being heard. "Those guys were obviously attacked by something…"

"What do you think?... Multiple demons? Mass possession?" Sam asks.

"If it was a possession, there could be more… God knows how many… It could be like a frigging Demon convention…" Dean says.

"Great!" The youngest whispers.

"That's one way to wipe out a town. You take it from the inside…"

"I don't know… We didn't see any Demon smoke or any of the other usual signs…" Eli comes.

"Well, whatever… Something turned him into a monster… If Sam'd taken out the other one, there'd be one less to worry about…"

"I'm sorry, all right? I hesitated, Dean… It was a kid…" He pleads for his defense.

"No, it was an 'it'… Not the best time for a bleeding heart, Sam…" Dean a bit pissed off.

The doctor comes in the room. "How's the patient?" Sam asks her.

"Terrible… What the hell happened back there?"

"We don't know…" Dean replies.

"Yeah!... You just killed my neighbor…"

"Didn't have a choice…"

"Maybe, but we need the county sheriff… I need the coroner…"

"Phones are down…" Sam says.

"I know… I tried… Tell me you got a police radio."

"We do… But, it crapped out just like everything else…"

"I don't understand… What is happening?"

"How far to the next town?" Dean requests.

"About 40 miles down to Sidewinder…"

"I'll go there and see if I can find some help. My colleagues will stick around, keep you guys safe."

"Safe from what?"

"We'll get back to you on that…" Dean already walking to the exit door.

Eli follows him. "Wait…" She's taking him by the sleeve. "Be careful, okay?"

"Yeah… Don't worry. And if I'm not here, I can't shoot you, right?" He smirks.

"Don't joke with that!... We really don't know what's out there…"

He gently presses her hand. "It's gonna be fine… See you later…"

.


	64. Chapter 63

Chapter 63

On the road, Dean suddenly stops his car, seeing another vehicle parked in the middle. He goes checking, his shotgun in his hand. The side window has been smashed. He bends down to look closer in it. It's empty, blood all over the back windshield, on an infant car seat and in the front. On the asphalt, he finds a bloody hunting knife. "What the hell happened here?" He softly mouths.

.

At the clinic, the doctor is analyzing some blood samples from the dead Mr. Tanner. "This is weird?" She suddenly says.

"What?" Sam asks.

"His lymphocyte percentage is pretty high. His body was fighting a viral infection."

"Really? What kind of virus?" He comes closer to her.

"Can't say for sure."

"Do you think an infection could've made him act like that?"

"None that I've ever heard of… I mean, some can cause dementia, but not that kind of violence… Besides, I've never heard of one that did this to the blood."

"Did what?"

"There's this weird residue… If I didn't know better, I'd say sulfur…"

"Sulfur!..." They hear some noise coming from the other room.

Sam rushes out and sees Eli laying on the floor. "Eli?..." He knees, taking her in his arms.

"Put her on the other bed…" The doctor says, taking them to a third room. She directly checks her vital parameters. "She's steady… She must have faint?... Is she pregnant or something?"

"No… I think I know what she has… Don't worry; I'll take care of her…" Sam understands that Eli has a mind-travelling again.

.

Dean continues his way to the next town. At a bridge, two cars are spread over the lanes to avoid passing, an armed group of people in front of them. He stops at some distance and recognizes Jake as one of them. A loud clap on his roof makes him jump.

"Sorry, Pal… Road closed…" A man next to his car says.

"Yeah, I can see that… What's up?" Dean asks.

"Quarantine."

"Quarantine?... What is it?"

"Don't know. Something going around out there…"

"Who told you that?"

"County Sheriff…"

"Is he here?"

"No. He called… Say, why don't you get out of the car and we'll talk a little?" He mysteriously smirks.

"Oh! You're a handsome devil, but I don't swing that way, sorry…"

"I'd sure appreciate it if you got out of the car, just for a quick minute…" The man insists.

"Yeah, I bed you would…" Dean briskly puts the reverse gear and flats the gas pedal, making the Impala jump backwards. The man tries to hold on the car, grabbing him by the collar. He is trailing behind it, the other guys from the group open fire. Dean turns the wheel sharply, making the car do a vigorous half-turn to finally get rid of the man hanging on it. He speeds away back to town.

.

"I don't understand... Are you saying my husband and Jake had a disease" Mrs. Tanner's asks.

"That's what we're trying to find out… During the attack, do you remember... Did you have any direct contact with their blood?" The doctor demands.

"Oh my God! You don't think I've got this virus, do you?"

"Beverly, I don't know what to think... But, with your permission, we'll take a blood sample." Mrs. Tanner nods a 'yes', putting a gentle hand on the doctor's one. She suddenly grabs her wrist, starts to scream and punching the medic in the face. Sam jumps on her, but she has so much strength that he flies across the room into a cabinet. She takes a lancet on a plate and goes to attack again. Sam catches a fire-extinguisher and knocks her down.

.

Dean drives back to town. He checks left and right for people. He suddenly brakes in front of the black man he met previously, aiming a rifle at him. "Hands where I can see them!" The Sergeant yells.

"Son of a..."

"Get out of the car!... OUT OF THE CAR!"

Dean slowly opens his door. "All right, easy there, big guy." He comes out very carefully and briskly points his gun to him. "Put it down! DOWN!" He screams too.

"Lower it now!... Are you one of them?" The black man asks.

"No... Are you?"

"No..."

"Could be lying?"

"So could you..."

"All right! All right! We could do this all day... Let's take it easy before we kill each other." Dean says more calmly.

"What's going on with everybody?" The Sergeant still nervous.

"I don't know..."

"My neighbor, Mr Rogers... He came at me with a hatchet... I had to put him down... He's not the only one... It's happening to everyone..."

"I'm heading to the doc's place. There's some people left..."

"No way... I'm getting out of here..."

"There's no way out... They got the bridge covered... Come on..."

"I don't believe you..."

"Fine, stay here... Be my guest..." Dean goes back in his car. The guy puts his rifle on his shoulder to take a handgun and sits next to him. They are aiming at each other. "Well, this ought to be a relaxing drive!" He smirks.

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	65. Chapter 64

Chapter 64

Eli is slowly coming out of her trance. Sam is helping her up. "So, where were you been?" He gently asks.

"Dean's... He's coming back here... With the black guy..." She answers and continues to resume the story for him.

"The puzzle of my vision starts to get complete..." He says when she's finished.

.

"What if we all have it? If we'd all go crazy?" The young nurse starting to cry, making Sam and Eli come back in the main room.

"You've gotta stay calm, Pam... All we can do is wait… The Marshal's bringing help." The doctor trying to ease her fear.

"I can't... I... No, I've gotta go..."

"Pam..."

"No, you don't understand... My boyfriend's out there. I gotta make sure he's okay..."

Sam follows her as she goes for the exit. "Hey... Wait... Wait, please... Look, I know you're upset, all right? But, it's safer if you stay here for now... Help is coming." He calmly says to her. They hear the Impala parking outside. "See… Here they are already..."

"Sammy! Open up!" Dean screams from the door. Sam directly opens it to let him in. "Roadblock..." He turns to the black guy "I'm gonna need to have a word with my partner... Doc's inside." He tells him.

"All right..."

"This town is completely going insane, man! The Sergeant is the only sane person I could find."

"Yeah! We know about the bridge episode." Sam says.

"How?"

"Eli got a travel..." Sam comes a bit annoyed.

"Are you telling me she was in my head?"

"Dean, please... Really not the time for another round between you, okay?"

"Yeah! Yeah!... I know, sorry... I'm a little on edge... Where is she now?"

"With the Doc... Helping her to make some blood tests..."

"Blood tests? So, you know what we are dealing with?"

"Maybe... Doc thinks it's a virus..."

"Okay, great... What do you think?"

"I think she's right... The infected are trying to infect others with blood-to-blood contact. And it gets better... The virus leaves traces of sulfur in the blood..."

"A Demonic virus?"

"More like Demonic germ warfare. At least, it explains why I've been having visions and Eli her travel..."

"It's like a Biblical plague..."

"Yeah! You don't know how right you are, Dean... I've been poring through Dad's journal. Found something about the Roanoke Colony."

"And?"

"Dad had a theory about Croatoan. He thought it was a Demon's name, known as Dever or Reshef... A Demon of plague and pestilence..." Sam explains to his brother.

"Well, that's terrific... Why here? Why now?"

"I have no idea... But, Dean, I mean, who know how far this thing can spread?... We gotta get out of here... We gotta warn people..."

.

"They've got one... In here..." The Sergeant yelling from the back room.

"What do you mean?" Dean asks, as the two brothers are coming in.

"The wife... She's infected... We lock her in the utility room." Sam says.

"We gotta take care of this. We can't leave her in here... My neighbors, they were strong... The longer we wait, the stronger she'll get..." The black man getting nervous.

Dean is arming his handgun, making Eli jump a bit.

"You're gonna kill Beverly Tanner?" The young nurse queries.

"Doc, could there be any treatment? Some kind of cure for this?" Sam trying to find another plan.

"I don't even know what it is..." The doctor says in slight panic.

"We are still running through the preliminary tests... We need some time to calculate the spreading schedule and then try to block it or at least slow it down..." Eli explains.

"We can't wait for that long..." Dean comes roughly.

"I told you... It's a matter of time before she breaks through." The Sergeant says.

The elder makes a gesture to Sam to follow him.

.

The three men are going in front of the utility room door, preparing to erupt in there. Sam opens it, the Sergeant and Dean entering aiming their weapons.

Mrs. Tanner sits in a corner. "Mark? What are you doing?" She says terrified. "Mark, it's them... They lock me in here. They tried to kill me. They're infected, not me. Please, Mark... You've known me all your life..." She pleads.

"You're sure she's one of them?" Dean looking at Sam nodding 'yes'. He makes a step further in the room and shots her three times with no other hesitation.

.

The night had fallen now. The black man is picking a look between the shutters from the window on Main Street. He sees people near just standing there watching at the clinic.

Sam, Dean and Eli are checking their weapons from the duffels they brought inside.

"Dean... You are starting to scare me..." Eli murmurs.

Before he could answer, they hear the noise of some broken glass from the other room. The nurse let some blood samples falling on the floor. "Oh God!... Is there any on me?... Am I okay?" She freaks out.

"You're clean... You're okay..." The doctor answers.

"And there goes our first tests results…" Eli complains.

"Why are we staying here?... Please, let's just go..." Pam pleads.

"No, we can't... Those things are everywhere..." Dean says.

"She's right about one thing... We can't stay here. We gotta get out of here, to the roadhouse or somewhere. Let people know what's coming." Sam taking his brother by the arm.

"You know... 'Night of the living Dead' didn't exactly end pretty, if you recall..." Dean jokes.

"I'm not sure we got a choice. Folks up here are good with rifles... Even with all your hardware, we're easy targets... So unless we got some explosives..." The Sergeant explains.

"We have everything here to make some..." Eli looking at the clinic supplies in the different cabinets around, pointing at some 'Potassium Chlorate' bottles on top of it.

.


	66. Chapter 65

Chapter 65

Someone knocks on the door of the Clinic. "Hey! Let me in!... Let me in, please!" A young man yells.

"It's Duane Tanner." The black man says. He quickly unlocks the entrance door to let him in.

"Oh, thank God!" Duane comes, relieved.

"Are you okay?"

"Is that the guy that was still missing your 'vision' group?" Dean whispers to Sam.

"Yeah!"

"Who else is in here?" The young man going for the back room.

"Whow... Whow... Easy there, chief..." Dean catching him by the arm. "Hey Doc? Give Duane a good once-over, would you?" He asks her.

"Who are you?" Duane asks Dean.

"Never mind who I am..." He answers.

"Duane? Where you been…" The Sergeant coming close to him.

"I was on a fishing trip up by Roslyn... I came back this afternoon... I saw Roger McGill being dragged out of his house by people I know... They started cutting him with knives... I ran... I've been hiding in the woods ever since... Has anybody seen my Mom and Dad?"

"You're bleeding..." The Doc discovering a wound on his left leg.

"Where'd you get that?" The elder asks.

"I was running... I must've tripped."

"Tie him up. There's rope there." Dean orders the Sergeant.

"Wait..." Duane wanting to go up.

"SIT DOWN!" He yells, aiming his gun at him.

"Sorry, Duane... He's right. We gotta be careful." The black man gently says, trying to calm him down.

"Careful?... About what?"

"Did they bleed on you?" Dean asks.

"No... What the Hell?... NO!"

"Doc... Any way to know for sure? Any test?" Sam turning around to face her.

"With the preliminaries that your partner made on Beverly's blood... It took three hours for the virus to incubate... The sulfur didn't appear in the blood until then... So... No, there'd be no way of knowing... Not until after Duane turns..." She explains.

"You are talking about my mother? Is she here?" Duane requests.

"Dean, I gotta talk to you... Now..." Sam commands him.

"Sit in that chair over there..." The Sergeant asks Duane.

.

"This is my vision... It's happening... Just that we got Duane tied up, not Eli... I don't understand..." Sam says, pacing around the room next door.

"Is it the exact vision you saw?" Dean asks.

"Apart from the person switch...Yeah!... Dean, you cannot kill him... Not yet... We don't know if he's infected or not..."

"So, you want us to let him tied up and wait what happens next?"

"Yeah!... Like Eli said, my visions are always accurate... I need to understand everything before shooting anybody else!"

"Bro... I'm still wondering... The guy shows up out of nowhere... Got a cut... His whole family's infected... A little bit much, don't you think?"

"Dean... Three hours, that is only what we need...

"Need for what? For him to Hulk out? Infect somebody else?... We can't afford that."

"We can't afford to shoot an innocent, either..." Eli says a bit angry.

"I'm not happy about this... It's a tough job, you know that..."

"It's supposed to be though. We've supposed to struggle... That's that whole point!" Sam pleads.

"What does it buy us?"

"A clear conscience, for one..."

"Well, it's too late for that..."

"What the hell is happening to you, Dean?" Eli asks.

"What?"

"You might kill innocent people and you don't even blink. You don't act like yourself anymore... You know what? You're acting like one of those things out there!" She bursts out. Dean is pushing her aside a bit briskly, Sam must catch here to avoid her to fall. Dean slams the door on his way out.

.

Sam, Dean and the Sergeant are preparing self-made Molotov cocktails using the chemicals they found in the Clinic's storage.

"It's over four hours... Duane's blood is still clean. I don't think he's infected... I'd like to untie him, if that's all right..." The doctor advising the three men.

"Sure... Yeah..." Sam decides. "You know I'm gonna ask you why..." He turns to his brother.

"Yeah! I know..."

"So why?... Why didn't you to it?"

"We need more alcohol..." Dean softly says.

.

In the other room, Eli is running new tests, comparing Mrs. Tanner's dead blood and some of Duane's.

"How do you know how to do all this, Eli?... Are you also a doctor?" Pam gently asks.

"No... But, my major in college was Biology and Chemistry... I wanted to be a researcher-professor..." She softly laughs at the memory. "By the way, how are you holding up?"

"Good..." The young nurse answers. "It'll all be over soon." She closes the door of the room and locks it. "In fact... I've been waiting for this the whole time..."

"For what?" Eli slowly turning around to face her.

"To get you alone..." Pam grabs her vigorously and through her on the floor, making her knocking over some tests tubes in the fall. Hearing the rummage, Dean and Sam rushing for the lab room.

Pam sits astride on Eli. She gives her several punches and then cuts her in the neck with a scalpel. The elder smashes the door, when the nurse slits her hand and applies it on Eli's wound. He instantly shoots three times on Pam that collapses on her. Sam helps her to get back on her feet. "She bled on you..." He whispers.

"I know..."

"We will need to tie you and lock you down..."

"I know... Do what you have to do..." She comes resigned.

"Eli... We won't let it happened... We won't let my vision come true, okay?..." He gently caresses her hair.

.


	67. Chapter 66

Chapter 66

"Doc, could you check her wound again please?" Dean asks.

"What does she need to examine her for?" The black man requests.

"Did her blood actually enter your wound?" The medic demands to Eli.

"I was half knocked out, but I think so..."

"Okay, that's enough for me!... We know what to do..." The Sergeant already taking the rope.

"We don't know for sure..." Dean yells at him.

"Dean... We saw..." Sam gently taking his brother by the arm.

"Man, nobody shoots my girlfriend..." Eli turns her head to him, a bit surprised.

"She won't be your girlfriend much longer... You said it yourself..." Duane coming in the conversation.

"Nobody's shooting anyone!"

"You were ready to shoot me!"

"If you don't shut your mouth, I still might..."

"Dean, they're right... I'm probably infected... I suppose it's the last act from Sam's vision... And I'm okay with you to do it..." Eli quietly says.

"Forget it..."

"Dean, I don't want to become one of those things..."

"We've still got some time..."

"Time for what?... Okay, I understand she's your girl and all... And I'm sorry it happens to you... I can take care of this, if you want..." The black man proposes.

"I'm gonna say this one last time... Make a move to her; you'll be dead before you hit the ground... Do I make myself clear?" Dean yells again.

"Dean... Please..." Eli softly touching his arm.

"Then what are we supposed to do?"

"Get the hell out of here, that's what..." Throwing his car keys to Sam. "Take my car. You got the explosives and the arsenal in the trunk... You go with them." Turning to the Sergeant, Duane and the Doctor. "You got enough firepower to handle anything now."

"What about you?" The black man asks. Dean looks at him to make him understand he will stay with Eli.

"Dean... No!... I'm staying too..." Sam says.

"Sammy, you go with them... Final!"

"And you to, Dean..." She goes up from the examination table, takes the handgun he still had in his hand. "I'll handle it myself... No need to have more casualties..."

"You're not gonna get rid of me that easy now..." Dean smiles at her.

"She's right, man... Come with us..." The Sergeant intervenes. Dean looks at him again. "Okay, it's your choice how to die..."

.

Duane and the Sergeant are going for the exit door, the Doctor still hesitating. Dean gently pushes Sam to the door. "Dean... Please..." He tries one last time. The elder grabs the door handle and starts to close it.

The Medic turns around. "I'm sorry... Thanks for everything, Marshal..."

"Oh, actually, we're not really Marshals..." Dean smirks.

"Awh!... Okay..." She stutters surprised.

.

Dean looks the examination room door. "Wish we had a deck of cards or a football table or something..." He jokes.

"You don't have to do this for me... Go with your brother... You still have so much to do... You need to kill the Yellow-eyed Demon... You have to... For John, for your Mom, for mine... Just get the hell out of here, please..." Eli begs.

"No way..." Dean gently brushes a hand over her hair, taking one lock around his finger. "I always loved that color of yours..." He whispers.

"Dean... Leave me the gun and go..." She tries again, taking his hand in hers, locking her eyes in his.

"For the last time, Eli... No..."

"This is the dumbest thing you've ever done!..."

Dean starts to stare at the ceiling, thinking about it. "I don't know about that... But believe me, I'm practically sure it was not!... And don't ask for a story, I won't tell you..." He smiles.

"I got that virus... It's over for me... But, it doesn't have to be for you... You could keep going..." Tears slowly forming in her eyes.

"Who says I want to?..."

"Sam is the most important person in your life, why abandoning him?"

Dean turns his back on her. "I'm tired... Tired of this job... This life..."

"So, you're just gonna give up? And I'm playing your excuse to do so?... Dean, that's..." They hear the entrance door going open. Dean takes one gun in each hand and goes checking on the room window. He sees the Doctor and unlocks theirs.

"You better come see this..." The Medic says. Eli wipes off her tears and follows Dean.

It's night. They rejoin Sam, the Sergeant and Duane on the Main Street. "There's no one. Not anywhere. They've all just vanished..." The Doctor explains.

.

"Well, it's been five hours and your blood is still clean. I don't understand it, but you dodged it." The Doc advises Eli.

"But, I was exposed... How could I not be infected?..."

"I don't know, but you're just not. I mean, when you compare it with the Tanner's samples." She makes a gesture for Eli to have a look in the microscope.

"Is this my blood?" Eli asks.

"No, this is Mr Tanner... Why?" The Doc looks at it too. "What the hell?... There's no trace of the virus... No sulfur, no nothing anymore..."

"That's maybe why I was not infected... The virus disappearing the same moment that the people around... Too big for a coincidence..." Eli comes out of the examination room, smiling.

"So?" Dean asks.

"I'm clean!... The virus just vanished..."

"What?"

"Yep... It disappeared from all the blood samples..." She just says. "Can we get out of here now?... This town gives me now the creeps." She whispers.

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	68. Chapter 67

Chapter 67

The sun is slowly getting up; the Doctor leads the whole group outside the clinic.

Duane and the Sergeant are packing their stuff in a pickup truck.

"Doc, the Sergeant and I are heading south... You should come with us..." The young man says.

"I think I'd better get over to Sidewinder. Get the authorities up here, if they'll believe me... Take care." She hugs them and waves when they hit the road.

.

The trio is loading the Impala. Dean circles Eli by the waist. "What about her? Can I send her back to you if I experience some grumpy mood?" He softly laughs.

"She's gonna be fine... No signs of any residue of any kind... Where are you going to now?"

"Dunno... Maybe back home a bit..." Eli answers.

"Okay... Be safe on the road..." The Doctor already going back in the clinic.

.

Dean turns to Sam. "Next time you have a vision, starts to check your facts before telling everybody things I might well never do..." He smirks.

"Hey man, don't look at me like that... I got no clue why this double version..." Sam putting his hands in the air in defense.

"I swear, I'm gonna lose sleep over this one... Where the hell did everybody go?... It's not like they just frigging melted?"

"For sure, I'm gonna re-reading the Roanoke file, once home." Eli says, looking one last time around.

Dean kisses her temple before going in the car, followed by the two others.

.

The pickup truck from the Sergeant is going through a road crossing a wood.

"Do you mind pulling over up ahead there?" Duane asks him.

"All right..." He parks his vehicle on the sandy side-road.

"I gotta make a quick call..."

"There aren't any phones out here..."

"I got it covered..." Duane rummaging in his bag.

"What the hell is that?"

The young man has a short knife between his fingers. He slices the Sergeant's throat and collects the Blood into a silver carved chalice. He dips the tip of his fingers into the red liquid that starts to make circles into the bowl.

"It's over... You'll be pleased... I don't think any more tests are necessary... The Singer girl, definitely immune, as expected... So, we may be sure Sam Winchester's too... Yes, of course, nothing left behind..." Duane speaking at the blood, his eyes suddenly turning into black.

.

Parked along the shore of a lake, Sam is throwing little stones in it, just below a little hill.

Dean and Eli are sitting on a wooden fence overhanging the water.

"So... Last night? You wanna tell me what the hell you were talking about?" She asks him.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, you said you were tired of the job..."

"Forget it..."

"No, I can't... Jesus... You're always doing that... Saying half the things... So, I never know what to do with you... Tell me why you wanna stay with me and let Sam go... That's definitively not you..."

"I thought we were gonna die... You can't hold this against me... After the possibility that I might have to shoot you... I wanted to amend myself... Sort of…"

"No, no, no... You can't pull that crap with me anymore... You start talking, man... And the whole way through..."

"And what, if I don't..." He starts to laugh, going down the fence and coming in front of her.

"Then... I guess I'll just have to keep asking until you spit it out... And you know that I'm quite good at being a pain in the ass..." Eli smiles, putting her arms around him.

"I don't know, Eli... Maybe it's time for me to step aside a little bit... Maybe all of us..."

"But, we still need to find the Yellow-eyed Demon... The war just began..."

"Yeah!... But, I'm sure we can miss a few days, don't you think?... I just thought that maybe we could pay a visit to the Grand Canyon..."

"What?"

"Yeah... All this driving back and forth across the country... You know, I've never been to the Grand Canyon... Or we could go to Las Vegas... Or Hollywood... Take a pick..."

"Did I hear this right?... You said 'we'..."

"Yeah! I just think we should take a break from all this... Having just time for us for once... Learning about each other... Live life a little bit?"

"Are you serious?... Why so a sudden?... And what are you gonna say to Sam?... Or is he coming with us?..."

"Nope... Just you and me... I'm sure he'll understand..."

She's putting a hand on his forehead. "Huh... No fever... Weird!"

"So what'd you think?" He gives her a light kiss on her lips. As she comes closer to him, he kisses her again, slowly deepened it.

.


	69. Chapter 68

**As you can see, I speed up the publication a bit. Say thanks to the Holiday Season! LOL!**

**Hope you're still enjoying this story.**

**And as we usually say: Comments & critics are always welcome.**

**Peace everyone.**

Chapter 68

Due to a heavy rain, Dean is parked under a bridge to make his phone call to Eli. "Hey... It's me again... Any chance you've heard from him?... I swear, it's like looking for my Dad all over again... I'm loosing my mind here... I called him a thousand times, nothing but voice mail... I don't know where he went or why... Sam's just gone..." The warning 'bip' of a second call resounding. "Hang on... Got a second call..." He says to Eli. He looks to his screen to discover his brother's phone number. "Sammy? Where the Hell are you?... Are you okay?" He gives him an earful. "Hey... Hey... Calm down. Where are you?... Don't move... I'm on my way..." He rushes away, the Impala roaring when he takes speed.

At the other side of the line, a numb Sam slowly puts down his phone on the table. The knuckles of his hand are red and swollen.

.

Dean is hurrying in the Motel hallway, looking for his brother's room number.

"Sam, it's me..." He knocks on the door. "Sam?" He tries the handle, it's unlocked. He slowly enters and sees him sitting on the edge of the bed. "Hey..."

"Hey, Dean..." He softly answers, his gaze on the floor.

"Are you bleeding?" The elder kneeling in front of him, as he spots some blood on his sleeve.

"I tried to wash it off... But..."

Dean continues his check on Sam's shirt and find a bigger blood streak. "Oh my God..."

"I don't think it's my blood..."

"Whose is it?"

"I don't know..."

"Sam, what the hell happened?"

"Dean..." He raises his gaze to his brother. "I don't remember anything..."

.

Dean comes back at the motel with some supplies.

"What'd you find out?" Sam asks him anxious.

"You checked in two days ago, under the name Richard Sambora... Which I think the scariest part about this is that you are a Bon Jovi fan!..."

"Dean!..." He comes to urge him to stay serious.

"Your room's been quiet. Nobody noticed anything unusual..."

"You mean no one saw me walking around covered in blood?" Sam a little intrigued.

"That's what I mean..."

"Then how the hell did I get here? What happened to me?"

"I don't know... All right?... But you're okay. That's what matters... Everything else we can deal with..."

"Oh really?... What if I hurt someone? Or worse..."

"Sam..."

"What if this is what Dad warned you about?"

"Waouw, waouw... Man, let's not jump into fast conclusions here. We don't know what happened? So, we gonna treat this like any other job... What's the last thing you remember?"

"Just me and you, in that motel room in West Texas... I went out to grab some burgers..."

"West Texas? That was over a week ago!..."

"That's it... Next thing I know, I was sitting here... Bloody... Felt like I'd been asleep for a month... Did you get news from Eli?"

"Yeah, she's fine... Bobby and her are on a case in Minnesota... Okay... Retrace your steps... Manager said you left yesterday afternoon and never saw you come back, so..." Dean goes to check at the window what view he has from the room and spots some bloody fingerprints on the latch. "Hey... Look at this... That explains why the guy didn't see you come back..."

.

They are wandering around the motel to see if Sam recalls something. "Recognize anything?" Dean asks him.

"Not really..." A few steps further. "Wait... I think I was here..." Sam says.

The elder looks around, in front of them are garage-boxes aligned in an alley. "You remember?"

"Dunno... It's just... It feels familiar, you know?..." Dean starts to check the locks from the garage doors. "Try that one..." Sam pointing at the third one. His brother shows him a padlock; he searches in his jacket pockets and takes out a key. It fits the lock. Inside the garage-box they discover a very old Beetle car.

"Oh please, tell me you didn't steal this..." Dean comes with some despair in his voice. They start to search the car. Sam finds blood on the steering-wheel. "Sam, back seat..." There lays a hunter's knife covered with blood on the blade.

"You think I used this on someone?" Sam says worried.

"I'm not thinking anything..." His brother trying to reassure him. Sam wipes off his fingerprints on it and puts it back on the car floor. "Okay, now, this is disturbing..." The Elder taking a pack of cigarettes next to the gearbox. "Come on, man... This couldn't have been you... Must be someone else who smokes menthol's..."

"Hey... A gas receipt from few towns over." Sam showing him the paper.

.

They arrive at the gas station mentioned on the receipt they found in the Beetle. "All right, it says here that you took ten gallons at pump number two. You getting any goose bumps yet?... 'God, this looks familiar' kinda vibes?" Dean asks. Sam just nods 'no'. "Maybe someone inside will remember you..." He stops the engine. "Come on... Let's see..."

They enter the mini-market. The employee raises his head and directly recognizes Sam. "You, out of here now! I'm calling the cops..." He starts to yell.

"You're talking to him?" Dean pointing at his brother.

"Yeah! I am... Jerk comes in yesterday, stinking drunk... Grabs a bottle of '40' from the fridge and starts gulping in..." The young man explains.

"This guy?... You're drinking malt liquor?" Dean turning towards his brother.

"Not after he whipped the bottle at my frigging head..."

"This guy?..." The elder insists, really having a hard time to believe what he hears.

"What? Am I speaking Klingon or something?"

"Look... I'm really sorry if I did anything..." Sam apologizes.

"Tell your story walking, pal!... The Cops'll be here in five..." The attendant taking the phone in his hand.

"Wait... He's leaving... Put the horn down..." Dean nicely asks him. "Sam, wait in the car..." He orders his brother.

"But... Dean..."

"Go wait in the car..." Sam leaves a bit unwillingly, letting his brother handling the situation. "Hey, look... I just want to talk to you, that's it... Okay?" The young man puts down the phone. "When he took off, which way did he go?"

"Why don't you ask him?"

"Because I'm asking you... Please, you'd be doing me a huge favor..."

"Oh, do you a favor? Well that is what I live for... You know, your buddy didn't pay for the booze... Or the smokes which he also illegally lit up in my store..."

"You saw him smoking?" Dean's taken aback.

"Yeah! Like a chimney!"

The elder take his wallet from his back pocket. "This ought to cover it..." He puts some bills on the counter.

"It's coming back to me now... He took two packs..."

"Of course he did..." Putting another bill down.

"He went north on Route 71. Straight out of town..."

Dean grabs a candy bar on his way out, smiling at the employee.

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	70. Chapter 69

Chapter 69

"What's going on with you Sam? Because smoking, throwing bottles at people... I mean, that sounds more like me than you..." Dean trying to understand, while driving in the direction the attendant from the Gas Station gave him.

"Dean... Wait... Right here. Turn down that road..." Sam suddenly says.

"What?"

"I don't know how I know... I just do..."

Dean briskly turns into the side road.

.

They arrive at a house. A flashlight goes on as they pass near the porch and they also spot a camera above the door.

"Whoever lives here, I'd say they don't like surprises..." Sam says.

They're climbing up the few stairs that leads to the entrance. "Should we knock?" Dean asks.

"I guess..." Sam has a peek inside through the window next to him. He steps on some broken glass, discovering one of the casement broken. "Hey..." He calls his brother.

"I'm surprised the Cops didn't show... Place like this, you'd think it'd have an alarm?..." Dean comes.

Sam continues his inspection around the house. "Yeah, you would..." He answers when he discovers the alarm-box wide open, all the wiring cut out.

.

Inside the house, they found a total mess, broken objects, knocked over furniture's. Dean enters a room and sees a body laying on the floor. He touches him with his boot. No reaction. "Hit the lights." He asks Sam. He turns the man flat on his back and discovers a huge puddle of blood on the carpet.

"Dean... I did this..." Sam more and more worried about what would have happened during his black out.

"We don't know that..."

"What else do you need? How else do you explain the car, the knife, the blood?"

"I don't know, man... Why don't you tell me?" Dean explodes before taking a deep breath to cool off. "Even if you did do this, I'm sure you had a reason. You know like self-defense... Hum... He was a bad son of a bitch... Something..." He searches the man's pockets. "He doesn't have any ID."

"I need your lock-pick..." Sam asks as he sees a locked closet in the room. He opens it and finds a whole arsenal, pictures, newspaper articles, weird written signs...

"Holy!..." Dean comes. "Either the guy's a Unabomber..."

"Or a hunter..." Sam finishes. "Dean, I think I killed a hunter!..."

"Let's find out..." His brother pointing at the ceiling where hangs a camera.

.

Sam types on the computer's keyboard to find the shootings that were recorded. "Here we go..." They watch a fight between two men. The first one is the dead guy. The other, looking strangely like Sam, easily overcomes him. He has a knife in his hand. With no other hesitation he finishes the battle by cutting his throat; leaving him bleeding to death on the floor. He raises his gaze up to the camera, a nasty smile on his face. No other doubt possible, it's Sam. Dean is stunned, while his brother tries to recall any of what he just witness.

After a moment of shock, the elder starts to wipe off everything in the room Sam could have touched. The youngest is reading a paper he found on the desk, next to the computer.

"How do you erase this, huh?" Dean pointing at the screen. "Sam! Come on... I need your help..." He insists, seeing his brother not reacting.

"I killed him, Dean..." He softly mouths. "I just broke in and killed him..."

"Listen to me. Whoever this guy is, he's a hunter. Which means, other hunters are gonna come looking for his killer, which means we gotta cover our tracks, okay?" Dean trying to make his brother move on.

"His name was Steve Wandel. This is a letter from his daughter." He throws the paper on the desk, shaking a bit.

Dean grabs the computer tower and smashes it on the floor, putting his foot in it to be sure it's totally wasted. That makes Sam coming out of his thoughts. "Wipe your prints. Then we go..." Handing him a cloth he used to clean the room.

.

They enter Sam's motel room. "All right, we get a couple hours of sleep, and then put this place in our rear-view mirror... Look, I know this is bad, okay? You gotta snap out of it... Sam, say something..." Dean pleads.

"Just get some sleep and leave in the morning?... Murder, Dean... That's what I did!..."

"Maybe, okay?... Hey... Could have been a Shape-shifter?..."

"Oh, come on! It wasn't... You saw the tape. There was no eye flare, no distortion..."

"But, it wasn't you... All right? Yeah, it might have been you, but it wasn't!..." Dean starting to get confused.

"I think it was..." Sam sits down on the edge of the bed. "I think, maybe more than you know..."

"What the hell does that mean?"

"The last few weeks, I've been having those feelings... Rage... Hate... And I can't stop it... It just gets worse day by day..." Sam lowering his gaze on the floor.

"You never told me this..." His brother sitting in front of him on the other bed.

"I didn't want to scare you..."

"Well, excellent job at that..." Dean raising up and walking around the room.

"Dean... The Yellow-eyed Demon, you know he has plans for us... And we both know he's turned other children into killers before too..."

"Yeah, well precisely... I have a counterexample: Eli... Last time I saw her, she was perfectly fine!... No killing, no rage, not heavier than usual I mean, nothing… No one can control you but you Sam..."

"She'll turn eventually, you'll see... It feels like no matter what I do, slowly but surely... I'm just becoming..."

"What?"

"Who I'm meant to be... You said it once yourself... I gotta face up to who I am..."

"I didn't mean this..."

"But it's still true... You know that... Dad knew that too. That's why he told you if it ever came to this..."

"Shut up, Sam!" Dean starts to yell.

"Dean, you promised him..."

"No... And then... What's next, you want me to shoot Eli too, huh?...We're gonna figure this out, okay?... I mean, there's gotta be a way... "

"Yeah, there is a way..." Sam takes a gun from Dean's duffel and hands it to him, grip up front. "I don't want to hurt anyone else... I don't wanna hurt you..." He whispers.

"You won't... Because you gonna fight this..."

"No, I can't... Not forever... You gotta do this..." Sam insists for Dean to accept the gun. As he doesn't take it, Sam grabs his brother by the arm and places it in his hand.

Dean is staring at the pistol. "You know, I've tried so hard to keep you safe..."

"I know..."

"I can't..." Dean murmurs. "I'd rather die..." He throws it back in his bag and turns his back on his brother

"No... You'll live..." Sam taking the gun again. "You'll live to regret this..." He knocks him out and runs out the room.

.


	71. Chapter 70

**Wishing you all a healthy, prosperous and happy New Year... ;-)**

Chapter 70

Dean slowly regains consciousness by the heavy knocks on the door. The time he realizes and remembers what happened, the lock clicks open. The Motel manager enters. "It's past your checkout..." He grumbles.

"What?" He asks, raising up from the floor, shaking his head still a bit hazy from the smack he received.

"It's past checkout..." The man repeats. "And I have a couple here who need your room..."

Dean comes to the door and turns around to look at the two other persons standing in the hallway – A fake platinum blond young woman, wearing a flashy purple short dress and an older man in a threadbare suit - "Yeah, I bet they do..." He murmurs. "What time is it?"

"12:30..."

"The guy that was with me, you seen him?"

"Yeah! He left before dawn in your car... You should've gone with him... Because now I'm gonna have to charge you extra..."

"Damned!"

"That's just the policy, Sir..."

"I need to use your computer..."

"Why would I let you use my computer?"

.

The manager is counting the bills Dean just handed him.

"Hi... So sorry to bother you, but my son snick out of the house last night and went to a Justin Timberlake's concert... And he's not back yet and I'm just... I'm starting to worry... Right, boys will be boys... But see, Sammy is a diabetic and if he doesn't get his insulin..." The elder explains to the operator on the other side of the line. "I have to find him... Please, I'm begging you... Yeah... No, no, no... I'm on the website right now... I just need to activate the GPS in his cell phone..." He types what the operator dictates as password, to give him the exact location of his brother on the screen. "Yeah, right there... Duluth, Minnesota... Yeah, that is a long way to go for a concert... I appreciate your help..." He puts down the phone. "You, son of a..." He mumbles, throwing his duffel in his car.

.

It's night already and the Sandpiper Tavern is about to close. Eli finishes her beer, reading a document of her laptop.

"Ma'am, we're nearly closing..." The waitress gently tells her.

"Thank you, I'll go in a minute..." She replies, smiling.

"Sorry, Sir... We're closing up..." The young woman repeats to the person that just entered.

"How about just one for the road?" A charming man's voice comes.

Eli turns around. "Sam?... What are you doing here?... You were one of the last people I would expect to see..."

"Well... Guess I'm full of surprises..." He says mysteriously.

"Something happened?" She slightly worries.

Sam faces the waitress, a big smile on this face. "Could I have that beer, please?"

"Okay... One beer..." She giggles, not totally blind to his charms.

He approaches Eli's table.

"So... How'd you find me?"

"Give me just a sec'... First need to go to..." He points in the direction of the restroom. "And I'll tell you everything..." He removes his jacket and puts it on another table.

She closes her laptop and puts it away in her shoulder bag, not noticing that Sam follows the waitress in the stockroom.

.

Few minutes later, he comes back, still that huge smile on his face. He pulls up a chair and sits astride on it in front of her.

"So, what's up... I'm all ears..." Eli says.

"Finding people is kind of what we do, in our daily business, no?..."

"Speaking of we, where's Dean?"

"Yeah, Dean... Well, he just couldn't make it..."

"He just couldn't make it, huh?... I see... So, what are you going here then, Sam?..."

"Well, it's a long time we didn't have some quality time together... Now that you're working more often with your father... Or going on sweet-breaks with my brother... I kinda... Miss you..." He comes shyly, lightly lifting his shirt sleeves when bending near her.

"What's that on your arm?" She asks as she spots a brand near his inner elbow. "Looks like it hurts..."

"Nan... Just had a run-in with a hot stove..." He smirks.

"Sam, what's going on?... You don't seem like yourself... And what is this about you missing me?"

"Look, I know how you feel about Dean... Boy, you're really stuck on him, aren't you?..." Sliding his chair closer to her.

"What?..."

"I take that as a 'yes'... It's too bad... Because see, he likes you, for sure... But not in the way you'd want... I mean, him and romance or steady relationships..." He laughs. "Oh, boy... He just can't..."

"You're this close of crossing the line here, Sam... So, please back off..." Suddenly feeling awkward.

"I'm not trying to hurt you, Eli... I'd... I'm telling you because I care..."

"That's real kind of you... But..."

"I mean it..." He takes her hand in his. "I care about you a lot..." He whispers.

"Sam, come on... This is ridiculous..." She wants to remove her hand, but he presses it a little bit harder.

"I can be more to you, Eli... I'd like to be more to you..."

"You stop this right now!... What's gotta into you?... Are you on drugs or something?..." She really forces to get away from his grip. "Maybe, you should have a good night sleep... It will be all more clear in the morning... There's a motel a mile from here..." She starts to look left and right to spot the waitress.

"Okay... I got it... Don't blame me for trying..." He raises from his chair, taking his jacket and going for the exit door.

.

Eli sighs heavily, turning her back on him, deciding to leave the place too.

Sam grabs her from behind, pushing her against the table. "Sam! Get of me!... Please... That is so not you..." She struggles. He's closing in on her, stroking gently her hair while controlling her movements. He tries to kiss her. With one free hand, she gropes on the table to catch something. She remembers that her bottle of beer in still somewhere around. She finally catches it, but Sam blocks her movement.

"Eli... Eli... Eli... Why resisting me like this?... It's a lost battle, you know..." He makes her drop the object, looking at her with hungry eyes.

"What are you talking about?... Sam, please... No... Don't do this... Please..." She's now totally frightened.

He slightly lifts his body from hers, just enough to send her a blow in the jaw to knock her out. "It didn't have to be this way..." He murmurs in her ear, brushing his lips over her cheek and neck. "Or maybe it did..." He grins.

.


	72. Chapter 71

Chapter 71

Sam ties up Eli on a wooden beam in the middle of the bar. She slowly comes out of the blue. "What the hell's going on?... Sam, what are you doing?..."

He stands behind her, coming closer to her ear. "It shouldn't have been like this, Eli... You're one of us... Why are you denying it?..."

"You're not Sam..."

"Don't be so sure about that, Hun..." He moves a bar stool and sits in front of her. "Come on..." Taking his long knife out of its sheath and moving it slowly around her face. "It's me, Eli... And you belong to me now..." With the tip, he starts to play with a lock of her hair.

"I belong to no one!" She snaps.

Sam's lets out a sadistic laugh. "Ohh... That's right... You don't know yet..." He comes mysteriously.

"Don't know what?"

"The plan, of course... See Owen, Luther, your mom... You know why they all die, right?..." He says, his face an inch away from hers. "Because you loved them..."

"You're lying..." She tries not to let tears appearing.

"I'm not... It's the plain truth... You were not supposed to love those people... You're not supposed to love my brother either... You only suppose to love me... Only ME!..." He says with an angry tone. "We... Belong... Together!"

"So, you suddenly know everything about the Yellow-Eyed Demon plan, huh?... How? Since you claim to still be Sam!"

"Hum... I just hear things..." He adds quickly, knocking the knife in the beam, just above her head.

"Why are you doing this to me, Sam?... If I'm supposed to be yours, why are you gonna kill me?"

"I'm not gonna kill you, Darling... You're just playing bait!... Think you're starting to get used to that, don't you?..." He wickedly smiles.

"Bait?... For whom?..."

"Hush now... And open up..." He shows here the gag he wants to put on her mouth. He knots it on the back of her head. "That's my girl..."

.

The entrance door suddenly slams open. "Sam!..." Dean yells, aiming his gun at him. He then spots Eli attached on the beam. "What?..."

"I begged you to stop me, Dean..." Sam taking the knife back and placing it on Eli's throat.

"Put the knife down... And let her go..." His brother calmly requests.

"I told you... I can't fight it... My head feels like it's on fire, all right?... Dean, kill me or I'm gonna kill her..." Eli nods a 'no' with her head, but Sam stops her by threaten her with the knife. "Please... You'll be doing me a favor... Shoot me!" Sam now raising his arms in a cross. "SHOOT ME!..." He howls.

"No Sammy... Come on..." Dean showing his back to his brother.

"What the hell is wrong with you, Dean? Are you that scared of being alone, that you'd rather let your girlfriend die?... That's how much you love her?..."

Dean briskly turns around and sprays him with Holy water, what makes him scream in pain. "And that's to prove one thing, you demonic son of a bitch!" Sam faces him again, his eyes turned in complete black. Dean continues to throw the water at him, making him backing up till making him finally jump though the back window to escape.

Passing next to the beam, Dean quickly cuts the ropes to free Eli and runs after Sam.

"Was he possessed?" Eli asks, removing the gag. But, Dean already disappeared. "Dean!" She yells, going after him.

.

So what a hundred yards away behind the tavern, Dean arrives in front of a shore. His gaze is attracted by noises coming out of a boat repair warehouse. He approaches and sees a shadow rapidly passing by on his left. He aims his gun, but it has already vanished. He carefully continues his progression. "So, who are you?..." He throws out around.

"I got lots of names..." The Demon answers him, his voice resounding all around the hangar.

"You've been in Sam since he disappeared, haven't you?"

"You should have seen your face when you thought he murdered that guy!... That was so pathetic!..." Sam says half-laughing, taking the gun he had put in his back.

"Why didn't you kill me?..." Dean hiding behind a woodpile. "You had a dozen chances."

The Demon throws a little block on his left, the elder directly turning towards the sound, giving Sam the possibility to change position. "No, that would've been too easy... Where's the fun in that?... See, this was a test... Wanted to see if I could push you far enough to waste your little brother... Should've known you wouldn't have the sack... I'm really sad for Eli, tho... Sacrificed like that on the altar of the Winchester's family bond... Anyway, fun's over now..." Sam raises his head from behind the little boat he was hiding, ready to shoot, but see nobody's in front of him.

"Oh well... I hope you got your kicks... You're gonna pay hell for this..." Dean's voice coming from another corner.

"How?... You can't hurt me... Not without hurting your precious little sibling... See, I think you're gonna die, Dean... You have to... It's meant to be..." Sam viciously laughs, making loud steps on the wooden floor to the exit door.

The Elder puts his gun away to take a flask in his hand and carefully follows him.

.

Outside, at the corner of the warehouse, Dean takes a peek around the pier. Seeing no one, he approaches the edge of the water and cautiously looks down. He suddenly feels a presence behind him and slowly turns to face Sam. With no other hesitation, he shoots Dean, making him fall right into the sea. To be sure, Sam goes checking, smiling from contentment when he discovers his brother had sink.

.

Eli, her phone glued to her ear, tries for the nth time to reach Dean. She arrives at the boat hangar; she sweeps it rapidly with her flashlight. Voice mail again. She angrily hangs up and continues her search.

Near the pier, she dials his number again. All of a sudden, Dean's phone tune resounds in a distance. She makes it straight to the sound, her torch going up and down, left and right. She finally spots him laying on a wooden ramp below under the pier. She runs down as quickly as she can. "Dean!... Dean!..." She turns him around, making him wince from the pain. "Take it easy..." She whispers as she grabs him in her arms. He lets out another scream when she unwillingly touches his shoulder.

"Where's Sam?..." He briskly asks.

"I don't know... And I've no concern in him right now... I've been looking for you..." She answers, a little bit sad that Dean has again put him brother up front any other danger or person. "Come on... Get up!" She helps him to stand on his feet. She does what she can to hold him straight and help him to walk back up the pier.

.


	73. Chapter 72

Chapter 72

Back at the bar, Eli helps Dean to sit on a chair. She finds a clean cloth. "Press this on the wound... I'm gonna get a first aid kit..."

She enters the back room and jumps in surprise, letting a small cry out. There on the floor lays the waitress. She checks for her pulse, but feels her neck was broken.

"He killed the waitress..." She says coming back with a small white case in her hands.

Dean only nods a 'no' in consternation. "So, are you gonna fix me?... Or do I have to go running after him like that!..."

She puts some alcohol on a compress and pushes it a bit roughly on his shoulder, making him yell. "Don't be a baby!" She cleans the wound and look if it's possible to extract the bullet. She takes a long pair of thin pliers and carefully enters the shoot hole.

"Oh God!..." He winces.

"All right... Don't move... I'm almost there..." She delicately moves the instrument in the wound. "Got it!..." As she raises it in the air, before letting it fall in a glass on the table.

Dean grabs the whiskey bottle and drinks long sips from it. "You're a butcher..." He murmurs in a husky voice.

"You're welcome!" She replies, rolling her eyes.

"All right, are we done?" He comes impatiently.

"Would you give me a minute? I still have to patch you up... This is a real hole in your shoulder, not just a scratch... You can't help Sam if you're bleeding to death... So, how did you know he was possessed?..."

"I didn't. I just knew that it couldn't have been him..."

"Hey, Dean..."

"Yeah?..."

"I know Demons usually lie, but could it be that they ever tell the truth?... I mean, in all the lies could there be a slice of real things?"

"Yeah, sometimes, I guess... Especially if they know it will mess with your head... Why do you ask?" Dean still sucking at the bottle, looking at her.

"Nothing... Just curious... Doesn't matter..." She softly comes, turning her face away from his gaze.

"Eli?... Is there something you wanna tell me?..." He puts a hand on her cheek to raise her head. She covers his hand with hers to slowly sliding it away.

"Hum... Any idea where he's headed next?..." She asks to change the conversation.

"So far, he's been going after the nearest hunter... So, the closest one is in... Oh no!" His eyes suddenly widened.

"That means... My dad!" She raises from her seat. "Okay, good... I'm done... Let's go..." Grabbing her bag and coat.

"Waouw... Wait... You're not coming!..." Dean stops her.

"What?... No way... It's my father, for Christ Sake!"

"That's just my point... Too risky for you and for me... And that thing in Sam is probably counting on it too..."

"But Dean?..." She protests.

"I can't say it more plainly than this: You try and follow me, I'll tie you to that beam again and leave you here... Or, you go to the roadhouse and stay put... I'll call you as soon as I can when I got Sam and your Dad safe... That's just how it's gonna be." Not leaving her any chance to retort, he takes his jacket and rushes for the door.

"Dean... Please... Wait..." He turns towards her, his face showing the determination he won't change his mind. She takes a tube of painkillers from the first aid kit. "Take these... They'll help with the pain... No more that six a day... They'll make you drowsy..."

He accepts it, making a step forward and putting a hand behind her neck to give her a rapid kiss. "I'll call you as soon as possible... I want to know you'll be safe at Ellen's... Okay?" He gently says, before parting.

"Okay..." She whispers, lowering her eyes on the floor.

Dean drives the car he swiped earlier to follow his brother. He tries to call Bobby, but got a busy tone.

.

Sam, already at the house, cuts the phone wires from the outside box. He slowly walks to the entrance door. He knocks.

"Sam..." Bobby smiles when opening the door.

"Hey, Bobby..." He answers also smiling.

"It's been a while... Come on in..." He lets him enter and closes it. "So, what brings you here?

"Working a job nearby and I thought I'd stop in to say 'hi'."

"Oh! You know that Eli's also just a state away... She'll be home by tomorrow... That's what she told me anyways... Where's Dean?"

"Well precisely, he was about to meet up with her... And that's why I'm here... You know, letting them some privacy..."

"Good!... We could maybe have a small family reunion later then..." Bobby says from the kitchen, taking two beers from the fridge.

He comes back in the main room. "Well, it's good to see you..." Handing him the bottle. "To John!" He lifts his.

"To Dad..." Sam clinking his against Bobby's one, before taking a big gulp from it. He spits it out right away, letting a bit of smoke coming out of his mouth. He collapses on the floor, coughing. "What did you do?..." He angrily asks.

"A little Holy water in your beer... Sam never would have noticed... But then, you're not Sam, are you?... Don't try to con a con man!..." He smirks before knocking his special guest out.

.

Dean slaps his brother in the face to wake him up. They have tied him up on a chair, under a Devil's trap drawn on the ceiling. "Dean... Back from the dead again... Getting to be a regular thing for you, isn't it?... Like a cockroach..." The Demon in Sam softly speaks.

"How about I smack that smart-ass right out of your mouth?"

"Oh, careful now... Don't wanna bruise the fine packaging..." He smirks.

"Don't worry... This isn't gonna hurt Sam much." He takes a bucket in his hands and throws what's in it on him. "But you on the other hand!..." The Demon lets out a huge scream of pain. "Feel like talking now?"

"Sam's still my meat puppet... I'll make him bite off his tongue..."

"Oh no, you won't be in him long enough... Bobby?" Dean calls. The old man opens the book he has in his hands and starts to read the Latin text, making Sam's body instantly shaking. "See, whatever bitch-boy master plan you demons are cooking up... You're not getting Sam... You understand me? Because, I'm gonna kill every one of you first!"

The Demon fidgets on the chair from the pain, before suddenly bursting into laughter. "You really think that's what this is all about? The Master plan? I don't give a rat's ass about the Master plan... Oups... Wait... Your stuff doesn't seem to be working on me this time!" He grins, making Bobby stop reading. "See, I learned a few new tricks..." He lowers his head and recites the exorcism text himself, making the fire in the chimney suddenly spreading, the lights flickering, the house shaking and a wind coming from nowhere is making papers flying all around the room.

"This isn't going like I pictured... What's going on, Bobby?" Dean asks.

Bobby checks Sam's arm and spots the burning mark on it. "It's a binding link... It's like a lock... He's locked himself inside of Sam's body..." He explains, showing Dean the symbol.

"What the hell do we do now?"

"I don't know..." A helpless Bobby says.

.


	74. Chapter 73

Chapter 73

The Demon in Sam's body finishes the Latin exorcism text, making the Devil's trap on the ceiling crack into several pieces. "There..." He says his eyes now turned into pitch black. "That's much better..."

With a swift movement of his head, Bobby goes flying against the wall and Dean on the other side of the room. He then easily gets rid of the ropes binding him on the chair and approaches Dean. "You know when people wanna describe the worst possible thing? They say it's like hell..." He starts to punch him in the face. "Well, there's a reason for that... Hell is like... Hum..." He gives a second blow. "It's like hell!... Even for Demons…" And the next one swings. "It's a prison made of bone... And flesh... And blood... And fear..." Another one, making now his nose bleeds. "And YOU send me back there..."

"Do we already met?... Wait... Meg?" Dean having a little trouble to mouth, because of the swellings all over his face.

"No... I'm Sam..." Still whacking. "By the way... I saw your Dad down there..." He pushes now on Dean's gun wound on his shoulder. "He says 'howdy'... All that I had to hold on to was that I would climb out of there one day... And then I was gonna torture you... Nice and slow, like pulling the wings off an insect... But, whatever I do to you... It's nothing compared to what you are doing to yourself, isn't it?... I can see it in your eyes, brother... You're worthless... You couldn't safe your Dad... And deep down... You know that you can't save Sam... And certainly not Eli... I really feel sorry for her... I like her... Poor baby girl enamored of the wrong guy... They'd have been better off without you..." He prepares for another knock, but Bobby grabs his arm and burns the symbol with a white heated firebrand. The Demon screams, black smoke directly pours out of his mouth and disappearing through the chimney. Sam, falling on the floor, wakes up scared, wondering where he is for a second.

"Sammy?..." Dean whispers.

"Did I miss something?..." He tries to joke, before his brother gives him a right hook with the last strengths he had left.

.

Eli puts a bag of ice on Dean's eye. "Aoutch!..." He cries out.

"Yeah! Yeah!... I know... It hurts me too..." She smiles, before checking on his shoulder. "That needs to be changed..." She goes for the medicine cabinet and comes back with some bandages and disinfectant.

"You're not gonna butcher me again, aren't you?..."

"As much as I'd love to do that right now... No, I'm just gonna clean up the wound and change your compress to avoid any infection... Unless you wanna loose an arm..."

"Eli... What's wrong?... You seemed upset since the bar... Anything that this Demon could have told you, are obviously lies... He wanted you to doubt about everything... Doubt about you... About Sam... About me..."

"I am already full of doubts, Dean... I didn't need a Demon to tell me that... I barely know who I am anymore... What is going to happen to me... What am I to you..." She lowers her voice and her head at the last sentence.

"I told you it wouldn't be easy to bear with me..." Putting a hand on her cheek. "I care about you, I swear... But, we are in no good circumstances to build anything right now..."

She slowly nods a 'yes'. "Yeah... You're probably right... Wrong time, wrong place... Maybe we shouldn't have started all this in the first place... And I don't want you to get hurt..."

"What do you mean?..." Dean's face showing surprise.

"By the way, you really look like crap..." Sam, coming from behind, unconsciously interrupting them.

"Right back at you..." His brother grows.

"Eli?..." The youngest turns towards her. "May I talk to you for a sec'?"

.

They both go outside on the porch. She avoids facing him, looking at her Dad's scrap yard.

"I was not aware of everything... There are lots of blanks in my memory... But, I know I must have hurt you bad... Eli, please... Tell me everything that happened."

"It's better not... It was not you anyways... No need to put lies and bad words between us... You bill is clean in my books, don't worry..." She slightly smiles.

"Eli, I need to know..." He approaches her, gently putting a hand on her arm. She briskly moves away from him. "See what I mean... I'm scaring you now... What did I do to you? Tell me..."

"Sam..." She sighs. He stares at her with a begging look in his eyes. "The thing in you seemed to know stuff about the Yellow-eyed Demon plans for kids like us..." She starts, finally resigned. "It said that I... I belong to you..."

"Belong to me?... What's that suppose to mean?..."

"It also said that all the people around me died because I loved them... And that the same will happen to any person I might care about in the future..."

"That doesn't make any sense... Anyways, I'm really sorry... And I really feel bad about the things I have done to you..."

"It's okay... I wasn't you... I know it wasn't you..." She finally looks him in the eyes; like she was searching for a proof that she is right.

.

They just finishes dinner when one of Bobby's phone starts to ring. He comes back in the kitchen a few minutes later where the others still are busy to clean it. "You guys ever heard of a hunter names Steve Wandel?" He asks them.

"Why do you ask?" Dean says.

"Just heard from a friend. Wandel's dead... Murdered in his own house... You wouldn't know anything about that?"

"No, Sir... Never heard of the guy..." Dean insists.

"Dean..." Sam whispers.

"Good... Keep it that way... Wandel's buddies are looking for someone or something to string up... They are not gonna slow down to listen to reason... You understand what I'm saying?" Bobby looking at the brothers in particular.

"We better hit the road... If you can remember where you've parked my beloved car..." Dean tells Sam.

.

"Here... Take these..." Bobby giving them medals before they leave the house.

"What are they?" Sam asks.

"Charms... They'll fend off possession... That Demon is still out there... This will stop it from getting back up in you..."

"That sounds vaguely dirty, but thanks..." Dean smirks.

"You're welcome... You boys be careful now..." Bobby hugging them.

"You too..." Sam going out already.

Eli is following them outside. "You heard my Dad, huh?... Be careful..." She says to Dean.

"I'll call you later, okay..." He softly answers, taking her in his arms.

She slowly pushes him away. "Yeah!... We'll keep in touch if we found anything interesting..."

"Yeah!... Let's do that..." Dean starting to walk away.

.

"You're okay?..." Dean asks his brother, as they are in the Impala again. "Sam, is that you in there?"

"I was awake for some of it, Dean... I watched myself kill Wandel with my own two hands. I saw the light go out in his eyes..." Sam explains, looking through his window at the landscape unfolding.

"Must have been awful..."

"That's not my point!... I almost carved up Eli too... And maybe other stuff I won't even thing about it... But no matter what I did, you wouldn't shoot me..."

"It was the right move, Sam!... It wasn't you..." Dean raises his voice.

"Yeah, this time... What about next time?..."

"Sam, when Dad told me that I might have to kill you... It was only if I couldn't save you... Now, if it's the last thing I do, I'm gonna save you... I give you my word on this..."

.

**My dear friends, I think it's time to close this first part of the story, ****since it starts to have too much chapters.**

**But, Eli's adventure is not finished yet. So, I'll start a Part 2 that I have entitled 'Demons' Triangle'.**

**Hope to see you around... Any comments, messages are always very welcome.**

**Take care everyone.**


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